In 1978, Connecticut Plunged Into An Arctic Freeze That Makes This Year's Winter Look Downright Mild
By Lisa Sammons|Published February 04, 2022
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Lisa Sammons
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Lisa loves animals and has dogs, rats, cats, guinea pigs, and snakes. She is passionate about animal rescue and live music - traveling across the country to see a favorite band is a pretty regular occurrence! Being out hiking in the woods enjoying the scenery with her beloved dogs is another favorite hobby, and also checking out the Pokemon Go scene in whatever city she happens to be in at any given time (coffee and dog leash in hand). You can reach Lisa at lsammons@onlyinyourstate.com
Sick of winter in Connecticut yet? Shoveling the driveway and de-icing your car sure can be a pain. Snow can be absolutely beautiful, but it’s not all fun in winter wonderland. One thing that might make you feel better about this year’s winter is remembering that it’s not as bad as it could be. Some previous years have featured horrendous storms and bitterly cold temperatures. One particularly bad winter in Connecticut was that of 1978. The year had a horrible blizzard that struck the entire northeast, causing immense damage. Bundle up and check it out:
The 1978 winter was a terrible one for many states all over the country. The Blizzard of '78, also known as Winter Storm Larry, was a particularly awful storm that devastated the northeast region.
The area was still reeling from another big storm that had occurred a few weeks prior.
The storm hit late on the evening of February 6 and continued on into February 7. Because there was a new moon, the high tide was unusually high, which caused extreme damage to homes on the coast.
Record snowfall and accumulation were seen in several cities. Thousands of people were injured, around 100 were killed, and more than $520 million in damage was accrued.
Weather forecasters accurately predicted the storm's severity, but thought that it would come earlier in the day. When people woke up to see no snow, many assumed the forecasts were inaccurate and went to work as normal.
Nearly all businesses shut down temporarily in the wake of the storm. Air traffic was halted, and highways in affected states were shut down. Many stranded vehicle passengers had to be evacuated by skiers and snowmobiles.
The Connecticut Governor ordered all roads in the state to close for three days after the storm, except for emergency travel.