The Blizzard of ‘78 - still the benchmark storm after 40 years

A National Guard troop inspects a storm ravaged car in coastal Massachusetts in February 1978. (AP)

Every city has a meteorological benchmark that helps establish where current and future winter storms sit in history. For Montreal, it has always been the Blizzard of ‘71 for snowstorms. While other storms have come close, none have equaled March 3 to 5, 1971.

For Boston and southern coastal New England, that benchmark storm is February 5 to 7, 1978. The ‘70s had some historically wicked winter storms, including one that swept across Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and southwest Ontario in January 1978. That storm established new records for lowest barometric pressure for a landlocked storm. However, just one week later, Mother Nature unleashed an even bigger storm on the US. The blizzard of ‘78 started innocently enough in Boston on the morning of February 6, 1978, as low pressure slowly developed east of Virginia in the Atlantic Ocean. The system would have been just another Nor¹Easter had it not been slowed by strong arctic high pressure over eastern Canada. The high pressure resulted in the storm becoming nearly stationary for over 36 hours east of Cape Cod.

Thousands of cars were abandoned for days. This is US Route 128 in Needham, Massachusetts.

The snow started very lightly early Monday morning, luring most residents of Boston into a false sense of relief. As a result, schools and businesses remained open despite the predictions for heavier snow. By the time businesses and schools were let out in the early afternoon, the storm was a full-fledged blizzard. Thousands of motorists were sent out into the teeth of the storm, quickly becoming trapped on snow-clogged area highways. Many were rescued by cross country skiers and snowmobiles, others remained in their cars for days. It took the authorities, including National Guard troops, nearly a week to clear the roads of abandoned cars. The snow and wind had a tremendous economic impact, closing down the region for over a week. The death toll from the storm was 100, fourteen of which occurred from motorists trapped in their cars. As the system inched its way along the coast, wave after wave of heavy snow fell across southeast Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Boston and its suburbs were the hardest hit, along with coastal New Hampshire. A record 27 inches (69cm) of snow fell on Boston, with 27.6 inches in Providence.

Total dedication! (Boston Herald Photo)

The most devastating impact of the storm was from the powerful hurricane force winds that accompanied the blizzard. The wind not only created zero visibility, but also pounded the coast with a relentless storm surge. Successive high tides created widespread destruction along the New England coast. Over 11,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during the storm. A peak wind gust of 100mph (160km/h) was observed on Plum Island, Massachusetts. Coastal flooding also occurred in New Hampshire and Maine. The final tally surpassed $500 million in damages from the Blizzard of '78.

On a side-note, the power of the storm was felt as far as Montreal. On February 6, 1978, Montreal measured winds of 76km/h, accompanied by 7cm of snow.