Ahead of ‘Nemo,’ Locals Remember 1978 Blizzard

High wind gusts, white-out conditions and over a foot of snow. It might sounds very familiar but this was the forecast for a snow storm that hit the Northeast 35 years ago this week when from Feb. 5 through Feb. 8 back in 1978 a blizzard blanketed the area.

There’s even a website dedicated to it and it has its own Wikipedia page.

Those old enough to remember it recall snowdrifts covering automobiles and days stuck indoors. (No Internet and for many, no cable television either. How did we survive?)

We asked on Facebook if people remembered the blizzard of 1978 and here’s what they told us.

Rose Nelson was busy giving birth during the storm.

"I went into labor with my first child Jillian. Almost did not make it to the hospital!!!! Everyone's car was buried...had to call the ambulance, she said. "They almost did not make it to me, cars were stuck everywhere!"

And Jackie Fitzharris was busy being born. 

"I was born during the blizzard!!!!!," she wrote.

Others readers, as children, remember enjoying the days off and playing in the snow.

"It's something I'll never forget," said Gina Fortunato. "Trees and electric wires coated in ice. Snow mounds piled along the curbs. Igloo on the front lawn for snowball fights. And my older brother ICE SKATED down Udall Road!!!"

Depsite many losing power, some still remember the blizzard fondly.

"The snow drifts covered our cars in the driveway," wrote Nina Candiloro Schmidt. "We lost power for a week and my father brought out the camping equipment. He lit a fire in the fire place and we literally camped in my downstairs living around the fireplace with our coleman stove and gas laterns. Then the next week we were off from school for winter recess, they called it. It was all sleigh riding, snowball fights and the times of our lives!"

Steven Patera wrote: "Richie Noble and I were the first one out on Beatrice Ave. we took orders from some of the neighbors and trudged our way to Jack&Jims Deli @Udall and Hunter. We filled our sleds and brought back the usual milk and bread."

Continue the conversation here. Do you remember the blizzard of 1978? Share your memories in the comments below.