Blizzard of '78

It was 48 years ago that a January blizzard struck our state.

I have previously written (scroll down) about this snowfall so I shall not explain my personal remembrance of it again. But the winter of 1977-78 was definitely a rough one. Especially if you were commuting ~40 miles on state highways.

Cold Temperatures

I came across a family group photo taken at our grandmother's funeral in 1994. It reminded me that it was especially cold that day, and I wondered what the temperature was. According to this site, the low on the day of her funeral, January 15, was -14. I remember all of us mourners were huddled together at the cemetery then made a quick exit to our vehicles when the committal prayers were finished.

Furthermore, the coldest temperature in ALL of 1994 was -25 on January 19.

I also remember a string of minus temperatures during January 1977. 

There was one particular day in this January when Dad drove me to work at the public library (start time was 2 p.m.). We got to downtown, and there was a train stopped on the tracks, and the library was located on the other side. It was not unusual for trains to block intersections for many minutes (MANY minutes), and Dad needed to get back to work following his lunch break. So I got out and stood on the sidewalk waiting for the train to pass. I do not recall, but I guess it did not occur to me to walk into one of the stores in that downtown area where I could escape the extreme cold. Duh.

I could probably find other remembered extreme temperatures of my life on this internet site if I wanted to.

It's Hot!

Last week was the hottest for the summer. Temps were in the 90s all week. I went outdoors once when I finally had to break down and go to the grocery store.

Record highs were set on August 24. Those first two temps -- Willard and IL Water Survey -- are for our city.

The meteorologist also commented that our city hit a record for the hottest "feels like" temperature ever.

It finally cooled down yesterday, but the forecast is for more 90° temperatures in a few days. Just in time for our Labor Day Sunday family "pizza in the park."

February 2022

Big snowfall event on Groundhog Day 2022.

J usually waits until the snow stops before shoveling. But I think one or the other of us had an appointment so he was shoveling while it was still snowing. He topped it off the next day.

February 3, 2022

February 4, 2022

Fred and Grace

Two tropical storms are headed towards the U.S. coast.

Our paternal grandparents were named Fred and Grace.

Cold February

We had roughly 2 weeks where temperatures remained below-freezing in February 2021. C-U temperatures have been below freezing since late on February 4. I believe we finally got above 32° this past Sunday (February 21).

But that is nowhere near the record for longest streak of complete days with subfreezing temperatures in C-U: 36, stretching from Dec. 29, 1976, to Feb. 2, 1977. During that period, there were 16 days with low temperatures below zero, including a -20 reading on Jan. 17, 1977, as well as readings of  -12, -13, and -17 on other days.

The average temperature during the 36-day event was about 10.5 degrees. January 1977 was the coldest January in the 133-year history of C-U weather records.

The News-Gazette, 02/20/2021:

On the other hand:

Trigger Happy

We knew severe weather was headed our way.  The morning was sunny, but it started clouding up around 10:00.  Then at 11 a.m., the storm suddenly arrived with lots of rain and a strong wind.

Almost simultaneously the tornado siren sounded.

I turned on WCIA to see what they were reporting.  At one point they said there was no tornado.  Instead, maybe a "gustnado" was the reason for the sirens to go off.  They went on to explain that the conditions could lead to a tornado.

Hmm-- I thought that was the purpose of a tornado watch .... an alert that a tornado could develop.

This morning. Near Ivesdale, south of our town.

WCIA evening news explained the reason for the tornado siren:  Apparently a police officer saw something that resembled a tornado on the west side of town.  He "demanded" that emergency services turn on the sirens.  The news report went on to say that "it is unclear whether he is a trained storm spotter."  That sounds like a politically correct way of saying he is not.

Gustnado - A small whirlwind that forms as an eddy in the leading edge of a thunderstorm. Does not connect with cloud-based rotation and is not a tornado.

October Snow

It snowed a week ago, October 12.  Tied for the 3rd earliest snow in our county.  It was the earliest snow in my memory.

Yes, I was alive in 1955 when there was an earlier date.  But being 2 1/2 years old, I do not remember that event.

I returned home from some morning errands and reported that the very light rain sprinkles had developed into tiny bits of crystals that I could see hitting the windshield.  Later that afternoon there were big, fluffy snowflakes coming down.

Kind of made me think of the poem by James Whitcomb Riley: "When the Frost is on the Punkin."

Good-bye Warm September

As reported on national news:

Our local climatologist said September 2018 had 10 days of 90 degrees or higher. Locally, we set record highs a day or two during September.

Mother Nature's April Fool's Day Joke

Easter Sunday fell on April 1 this year, and just like an April Fool's Day joke, it snowed!

Flowers in the back yard

April 3's News-Gazette reported that we received 4 1/2 inches of snow which made this the snowiest Easter Sunday ever.  The previous record was 2 inches on April 4, 1920.

Furthermore, this also set a record for snowfall on April 1.  The previous record had been 4.3 inches in 1962.

April 2  -  Early morning

I suspect some people attending Easter Sunday mass at St. Matthew's may have thought they were living an April Fool's Day prank.  The first Sunday morning mass is at 8 a.m.  But for the past few years, Easter Sunday's mass start time has been 7:30 a.m. in order to reduce the parking lot congestion between the 8:00 and 9:30 masses.  Those people who seldom attend church were probably surprised when they arrived to a full parking lot and the mass already begun.

Fickle Spring

Photos from 4 years ago.

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Beautiful Day

Oh, my goodness.  Yesterday was a beautiful day: temperatures in the 70’s, slight breeze, gorgeous blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  I love the color of the blue skies against the green grass and trees.

July 2014 - park near our house

Another reason why the day was so beautiful: It’s July -- traditionally the hottest month of the summer.  But this year’s July has been over the top with pleasant temperatures.  We had temps in the 70’s for several days around the Fourth of July.  While tomorrow is supposed to warm up again, next week’s weather prediction has the temperatures back into the 70’s.  I love it!

The Illinois State Water Survey says: The average temperature so far this month in our town is almost 5 degrees below the historical average of 75.  We may be headed for the third-coolest July on record (dating back to 1889).  Number 1 on the list is 2009 at 70 degrees.  The cool July weather is all because of an unusual position of the upper-air jet stream.

In contrast, two years ago, our town lived through its second-hottest July ever with seven days with temperatures of 100 or greater and 27 days with temperatures of 90 or greater.  Last summer was plenty warm, too.

Wind the clock back 6 months and we were in the midst of a cold, snowy winter.  In mid-January our snow total was nearly 25 inches for the season.  January temperatures weren’t any better: average at 20 degrees which ranks as the 17th-coldest January on record in Illinois. 

March 2013

The News-Gazette reports of the infamous winter of 1977-78 when the average temperature in our town was 20.2 degrees and we were buried in a record 67.2 inches of snow.  The next winter was barely better with an average temperature of 20.4 degrees.

Rank	Winter	Total snow in inches
1	1977-78	67.2
2	1981-82	58.4
3	1961-62	45.9
4	1983-84	44.9
5	1963-64	44.3
6	1959-60	41.6
7	2010-11	41.1
8	1978-79	40.5
9	1950-51	39.9
10	1911-12	37.8

I definitely remember the winter of 1977-78.  I began working at the college library January 1978 and was commuting from GC.  My first week of work the college was closed two days.  I do remember two other days that we were closed due to snow the next month.  The plows chiseled great walls of snow along the highways.

But that was then, and this is now.  We’ll keep talking about the weather and remembering “back when,” and we’ll set new records and compare year to year.  And I’ll be happy when the skies are a gorgeous blue with fluffy white clouds and the temperatures are mild.

1964

Nasty Weather

Came across this email that I sent my sisters in June.  It's such a heart-warming incident.

I'm in the computer room.  I hear people talking outside the house.  Doorbell rings.  John answers it.  Woman says "We see some rotation in the sky.  Do you mind if we come inside for a little bit?"  I yell out "Yes" meaning "Yes, I mind -- get lost."  John lets them in.  (Woman and a little kid.)  I shut the door to this room.

She's on our phone and I hear her saying "We're taking shelter until it blows over."  I'm thinking f--- you.  That could be an hour.

Now I hear her say "Richard, we don't touch things in other people's houses."

She's probably a very nice person, but get out of my house, b----.

Now she tells her kid "Ask if you can please have a drink of water."  Hope John uses an already dirty glass out on the counter.

John checks the weather radar and tells her a big storm is headed this way.

She's calling back again and asking her daughter to come pick her up.

Now they're outside waiting for their ride.

I bet it was our decor that sent her scuttling back out into the ominous weather.

I'm such a mean person.  I would have left her and the kid out in the nasty elements to get blown away by a twister.

Her ride is here.  Bye-bye.

At least I won't have to huddle in the bathtub with 2 strangers.

P.S.  I don't usually use smutty language.  I leave that up to my sisters.

Coincidence?

Tuesday night as I was trying to go to sleep between 10 and 11 p.m. I had a random thought about Ted Kennedy not attending his sister Eunice Shriver’s funeral a couple weeks ago. That started me wondering about which of the Kennedy children were still alive. I reviewed them in my mind and reached the conclusion that the two youngest, Jean and Ted, were still alive. When I woke the next morning and heard on the news that Senator Kennedy had died. Felt like a whoo-whee-ooh moment. Later I heard a news report that he’d died around 11:30 p.m. Eastern time, August 25. I don’t know if that is correct, but it’s spooky ‘cause that would have been about the time I was thinking about him. So that’s my one clairvoyant moment.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

We had a loud thunderstorm last night around 10:30. We must have lost electricity briefly because I noticed my bedside clock was flashing. That surprised me because I’d think the backup battery would have prevented that. (Note to self: Change the battery.) But anyway, I reset the clock. A few minutes later it was flashing again, and I reset it again. The next thing I knew, it’s midnight and the alarm had gone off. So I reset the alarm, and all was well until I got up at my usual 4:30 a.m.

‘Sposed to be a rainy day, but then will clear off and the weekend should have temps in the 70s. Woo-wee. Ideal for August.