The Winner Is…???

Those of us in the northern climes understand snow. We understand how to drive in it (rock and roll, turn the steering wheel, etc.), how to walk in it (trudging through or like a penguin when it’s slippery), we understand that it is coming whether we want it or not, and we appreciate the beauty of it when it forces us indoors. The soft, white blankets covering everything, formed layers on windows, magical artwork of drifts, and the intricate detailing of each individual, unique snowflake speaks to our souls. Winter is just part of life for us. Some of us thrive on the winter activities, while others long for the warmth of summer throughout it.

Every year we get reminders about the winter storm of 1978 that shut Michigan down for three days – it takes a lot to shut down Michiganders during the winter. That’s the year the snow was higher than our vehicles and the only way to get around was on skies or snowshoes. Some areas got 52” of snow, that’s 4’ 4” in one storm (total annual snowfall was 100.5 inches - that's 9 feet!). It took a week for the plows to get the main roads cleared and some of them only had one lane at points. It was the strangest thing to drive through walls of snow. That’s also the year I learned to make sure I was stocked up for who knows what. Especially during the winter months.

But do we ever hear about the storms of 1959? When I talked to my mother to see if she could remember which storm was worse, she said probably 1959. She said it was because the snow never seemed to let up the entire winter. And there were no thaws. So, bit by bit, the snow rose until it covered almost our entire kitchen window. (Total annual snowfall was 132.2 inches - I'll let you calculate that one.) There were no snow blowers, etc. She remembers feeling badly when our doctor came by to pay a house call and he had to walk through really deep snow – and he was a very short man.

So, while The Great Blizzard of 1978 is recorded as the worst blizzard in the history of the Great Lakes region (and the Ohio Valley), there have been other years when the snow descended slowly upon the earth until almost everything was covered. So, dress wisely, everyone (it is 2 degrees outside as I finished this), this is only January, and our area has already gotten 95 inches of snow – I have no doubt there’s more to come (thankfully we've had some thaws). And the rate we are going, we might top 1959! So the winner is? Perhaps 2026!

Top picture is from the 1978 blizzard, and the bottom pictures are from the 1959 accumulations.