BUFFALO 1977 - The Worst Blizzard Ever to Hit an American City
Descrição
The Blizzard of '77 was the first snowstorm in American history to be declared a federal disaster area.
At about eleven in the morning on Friday, 28 January 1977, a white wall came across a frozen Lake Erie and swallowed Buffalo, New York. Visibility went to zero for thirteen hours. Winds gusted to 69 mph. The temperature fell 26 degrees in four hours, and by the formula used at the time the wind chill reached 60 below.
Officially, only about twelve inches of new snow fell. The snow that buried Buffalo had already fallen. It had been lying on the frozen lake for six weeks, in the snowiest winter the city had ever recorded, waiting for a wind.
Thousands of cars were abandoned on Main Street. Thirteen thousand people were trapped downtown overnight, in the Statler Hilton, the Aud, office buildings and factories. Drifts reached twenty-five feet. People were found in cars buried by the snow, and the National Weather Service counted twenty-nine deaths across Western New York.
This is the full story: the lake that froze, the first blizzard warning Buffalo ever received, the fire the trucks could not reach, the patrolman who walked medicine to a trapped restaurant for twenty-five hours, the snowmobilers, the soldiers from Fort Bragg, and the President who had been in office for eight days.
If you were in Buffalo that week, tell us in the comments where you were.
#buffalo #blizzard #1977 #BlizzardOf77 #snowstorm
At about eleven in the morning on Friday, 28 January 1977, a white wall came across a frozen Lake Erie and swallowed Buffalo, New York. Visibility went to zero for thirteen hours. Winds gusted to 69 mph. The temperature fell 26 degrees in four hours, and by the formula used at the time the wind chill reached 60 below.
Officially, only about twelve inches of new snow fell. The snow that buried Buffalo had already fallen. It had been lying on the frozen lake for six weeks, in the snowiest winter the city had ever recorded, waiting for a wind.
Thousands of cars were abandoned on Main Street. Thirteen thousand people were trapped downtown overnight, in the Statler Hilton, the Aud, office buildings and factories. Drifts reached twenty-five feet. People were found in cars buried by the snow, and the National Weather Service counted twenty-nine deaths across Western New York.
This is the full story: the lake that froze, the first blizzard warning Buffalo ever received, the fire the trucks could not reach, the patrolman who walked medicine to a trapped restaurant for twenty-five hours, the snowmobilers, the soldiers from Fort Bragg, and the President who had been in office for eight days.
If you were in Buffalo that week, tell us in the comments where you were.
#buffalo #blizzard #1977 #BlizzardOf77 #snowstorm
Palavra-chave: meteorologia em belas
Comentários da comunidade
@bherylkuebler986 YouTube · 26/10/2026 · 👍 12
Worst storm of my 73 years. But...that Lake is the most beautiful of all the Great Lakes,imo. Summers make winter worth it. Go Bills ❤
@LyleFire YouTube · 29/10/2026 · 👍 2
I remember much of that blizzard…I was 10 yrs old living in Tonawanda. I can’t believe nobody has made a movie about this yet. There is certainly more than enough material for a full length movie.
@NatureFrontiers-w6f YouTube · 29/10/2026 · 👍 1
Imagine looking outside and seeing your entire car disappear under snow that was already sitting on a frozen lake. Buffalo winters have always been brutal, but 1977 was something else entirely. I'd love to hear stories from people who were actually there.
@ButchKnouse-o4k YouTube · 26/10/2026 · 👍 8
In the spring of 1977 Bob Hope said New York City was sending a search party out to look for Buffalo.
@leegalen8383 YouTube · 26/10/2026 · 👍 2
I'm 70 now and remember that storm well! Was in college in Wooster Ohio and we lounged around and partied for several days.
@David-i2p9e YouTube · 29/10/2026 · 👍 2
That and the one in Boston Massachusetts touched off the sun belt fever
@scarletmacaw YouTube · 02/11/2026
I went to SUNY at Buffalo in 1978. This is the armpit of the northeast.
@OurayCO19 YouTube · 29/10/2026 · 👍 1
I was in the Air Force June, 1973 to May, 1979. My last base assignment was Sheppard AFB; Wichita Falls, Texas. One winter they got just 3 INCHES OF SNOW and they closed down the schools. What a bunch of pansy farts. If I knew about this, I drive my Vega Gt Stationed Wagon, 4-speed and do donuts it a school parking lot while honking my car horn.
@georgeanthony8999 YouTube · 28/10/2026 · 👍 2
Lake effect could dump 4 5 foot and its no big deal... if that kind kicks up Its a different ball game..
@johnbeals7697 YouTube · 29/10/2026
It’s kinda creepy to be in the Harrison’s radiators plant and listening to this at work