Blizzard of 1978

If you lived in Long Island during the 70s, then you likely remember the February of 1978, when the island, and much of the Northeast was blanketed with the worst storm of the decade. Let’s take a look back at the memorable blizzard of 1978 that brought New York to a standstill.

From the moment 1978 arrived, it was clear that there would be no shortage of snow that year. On January 19th, a storm brought 13-17 inches to the island, depending on where you were located. The precipitation caught meteorologists off guard who failed to predict the severity, leaving local residents woefully unprepared. But this event was really just a precursor of bigger things to come.

Less than two weeks later, a little before dawn on Monday, February 6th, a nor’easter rolled into the tri-state area. This time, the weather forecasters predicted 1-2 feet, and a number of schools in the area decided to close for the day as a precautionary measure. That turned out to be a good move.

 

As the day progressed, winds kicked upwards of 60-80 mph, leading to whiteout conditions as the snow was falling at a rate of 4″ per hour in some locations. Adding insult to injury, residents along the North shore and Peconic Bay began to experience severe flooding.

Across the island and in NYC, streets came to a halt, with countless cars literally buried. The blizzard of 1978 had arrived, and it wouldn’t let up for another full day.

 

The storm continued to pummel the island until late the following evening, with over 2 feet reported in many areas. Snowdrifts were reported as high as eight feet, leaving the majority of locals stranded, in some cases for days until the local roads could be plowed.

School remained closed for the entire week, much to the delight of local kids, who filled the time with sledding, snowball fights and building snow forts. Adults were far less pleased as they waited impatiently to return to work, and some semblance of normalcy.

No matter how old you were, one thing is certain – if you were there, you remember it today.

Where were you during the blizzard of 1978? Were you one of the kids that remembers it as a time of great fun, or were your circumstances more serious? I would love to hear all of your recollections of this memorable storm in our comments section below!

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89 Responses

  1. Nadine Caiati Wahl says:

    I worked at Bloomingdales , garden city, Long Island and was conveniently bunkered down there for 3 days. It was great fun – I manned the store operator station, taking calls from employees who were unable to get to work. We enjoyed cooking our meals in the kitchen of the Ondine restaurant, slept in the beds in the model rooms in the furniture dept and played “pong” on the only video game that existed. We had a surreal and fun time!!

    • Rob says:

      I was there and one of many kids thrilled school was closed for a week. I remember the snow plows only plowed down our road just once, and only wide enough for one car. It took them a long time to come back and make it wider. I remember it was 4 to 5 feet on either side as you walked down the cleared part. Best winter ever. Was this the same year the Great South Bay froze and you could drive on it?

  2. Billy says:

    I remember it well, but also recall the Ice Storm shortly before the two snow storms. Mid-January there was a 4-6 inch snow fall, that was washed away a few days later with warmer temperatures, and heavy winter rain. THEN, the rain stopped, and the temperature dropped 30 degrees into the single digits, turning everything to ice. Saturated tree limbs and power lines were falling. Surreal, and dangerous as hell. Black ice on the roads everywhere.

    • Elizabeth says:

      I remember the ice storm also !!

    • Terry says:

      Exactly! I remember the ice storm well snapping power lines

    • Bruce says:

      The ICE STORM was the first hit, leaving us without power for two weeks, and we had a six month old in zero temps, so we had to keep the fireplace going, cooking hot dogs and living like cave people. THEN the first snow, followed by the BLIZZARD, then the RAINS came, melting the snow, flooding my first floor so much WABC TV had my seven year old;s photos in the dinghy floating in front of our garage for a couple of days.

    • Suzanne says:

      I remember the ice storm too, because it was Friday the 13th!

    • P Barrett says:

      I’ve never forgotten that ice storm. I was 17 years old, we were without power (seemed like forever) but when the sun came out it was a spectacular shimmering sight to behold!

    • Ozz says:

      I remember trees splitting down middle n hanging down from ice.

    • Scott Briggs says:

      I don’t remember much anymore, but I do distinctly recall the ice storm and every goddamned thing on my block being absolutely frozen solid. We also lost power in our home (and probably most of the block in Levittown) for several days, we of course had the fireplace going constantly and all that. But I recall being sent to stay for a day or two to my aunt and uncle and cousin’s house on other side of town since they had power, somehow. Which I wasn’t thrilled about but whatever. I don’t recall the rest of the main storms but I’m sure we were mainly outside playing in the snow and all that. Actually I recall going down to Florida on Amtrak with my parents but that might have been 1977, to escape the winter and see my grandparents. My parents broke up by end of 1978 so it must’ve been 1977 then. It was a total laugh because we got on the train in our down jackets in NYC and then were down to tshirts etc. by the time we hit Florida.

    • Brad says:

      Ahh, blizzard 78 … my parents were in barbados at the time, and all flights were cancelled. I was home all alone at age 13 for a solid week, with the house buried upto the lower roof, and both cars totally hidden by a giant drift. I literally had to tunnel from the garage, between both cars, to reach the street after the plow went by. It was a miracle the power stayed on.

      • Brad says:

        The drifts in my neighborhood were the largest on long isle because the harbor just north of my house had frozen over, and the NE gale caused all the snow that landed on it to blow into massive drifts in my neighborshood on the leeward sides (south) of the houses.

    • Scott says:

      Yes, the ice storms I have pictures of our house during the ice storms. That year has ruined my perception of snow storms to this day. Snow storms were worse when I was a kid it turns out.

  3. John Tudder says:

    I was a musician in New York and had a house in Deer Park with three other young guys from about 1976 to 1979. We were on the southside of a very large double schoolyard. Two Elementary schools diagonally on the corners with large playing fields in the middle.When the high winds came they blew the drifts across the schoolyard to the front of our house covering the full picture windows. Drifts were probably about 8 feet at the house. As I remember, we were without power for several days and very grateful for our next-door neighbors who had gas and provided us with warm food and the occasional hot shower.

  4. judy koslow shivak says:

    I remember that storm, i was class mother and had to make calls when school was closed in Three village schools in Stony Brook. Between the week of no school due to snow, it was followed by already scheduled predidents week. What a winter. That was before internet and cell phones. The previous winter there was major ice storms, where i lost my leaders and gutters.

  5. Gail Ruber says:

    Will never forget the storm, my third son was only 2 months old at the time; because of the severity of the storm, I ran out of formula and had to put him on regular milk (much earlier that was normal). Luckily, we not only had plenty of fresh milk in the house, but with 3 sons, I always kept powdered milk as backup.

    Also, my husband was caught at work and did not get home for almost a week. Of, course my older boys loved it.

  6. Patty says:

    We lived in Albertson and remember 2 storms within a very short time. We built an igloo on our front lawn – which you could walk inside – a lot of fun

  7. Candace R.Teetsel says:

    I was a Member of the local Fire Department and still a senior in High school. Schools were closed here in the Hudson Valley for 3 days . so I spent 36 hours at the Fire station where we used Fire Trucks to get the nurses and doctors who were local to the two local hospitals to work there shifts. We did have a fire call in the middle of the night , I think it was around 2 a.m. and it was snowing so hard couldn’t even see clearly. I was amazed on how many cars were on the road in the middle of a Blizzard so early in the morning. We had Chains on the Fire Engine’s so we could get around. I’ll never forget it. Since we were Volunteers we had no beds, so I slept up on the hose bed on one of the Engines. No pillows or blankets either. But the station was warm.

  8. Teri says:

    I was in my very early 20’s when I worked at Great Eastern (I believe) my boss Mr. Simon and Mr. B. were asking if someone could stay and cashier for the crazies that came shopping that day. Sure, I said. Big mistake! Stuck there for 2 days, ate in the snack bar slept in the carpet dept. Me and 6 men. Then my poor dad was finally able to get out of his parking lot to come get me! Along with 2 of my fellow workers! It was crazy!!

  9. Pam says:

    I remember the Blizzard of 1978 as a time of fun. Living in Wyandanch and school in Huntington Station having the week off was full of snow time…forts, friends. Our fort was huge we had a long extension and brought the TV to the fort. Great memories as a kid on Long Island.

    • jakki says:

      I was a young girl of 13 and I had just moved from Tennessee to Wyandanch 2 days prior on February 4th!! Needless to say, I thought the world was coming to an end because I had never seen so much snow!!!!! I didn’t get to start school in my new school for about 12 days!!! and I don’t think I saw entire streets until about July!!!!! The snow drifts were incredible!!!!! This storm is probably the single most memorable event that I associate with moving to New York!!!

  10. Mary giardina says:

    Remember it well. The kids were young and enjoyed building forts for snowball fights. With about 15 kids on the block there was always someone to play with. My husband is a volunteer fireman on Hicksville. The year he spent 9 days and nights at the firehouse on standby. Very difficult to get fire trucks and ambulances through unplowed streets.The ice storm was the worst..we had no power but thank God we have gas so we could cook and bake.

    • Scott Briggs says:

      Mary, if you’re still on here: Do you by any chance remember the pizza joint at the West Village Green (Levittown but on border of Hicksville), it was Pizza Chalet I believe? That place ROCKED. I’d give a lot to go back in time for one more pie from there!

  11. Tim says:

    I was visiting NYC Feb.’78 – actually stayed with my buddy Serge in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We were in the City and got caught at his friends place for 2-3 days.. Thank goodness she had plenty of food, clothes that fit us and power.. After that I decided as great as NY is , I was NOT going to permanently live in any snow zone (my Dad was born in Canada and grew up in the Northern US – I heard the horror stories of bad winter weather. I like to visit snow zones for 1-2 weeks. Then I’m outta there.

  12. Jake says:

    Was 20 at the time living in North Babylon. I remember waiting a week to have our street plowed. The most frustrating thing was watching the cars being able to travel on Deer Park Avenue and NOT being able to get my car to it! We only lived 2 houses away!

  13. Raymond Birkenfeld says:

    Lived in valley stream school was closed for a week loved it was 11 at the time. Now i hate it

  14. Antoinette says:

    I was pregnant and my water broke at 4:00 am on the 20th of January . 3 weeks early. We called 911 and they told me to call back when I was in labor!!
    My neighbor called 911 again and before you know it the fire dept., police car and a plow were ready to take me to the hospital. We went by police car to Meadow Brook hospital with a plow guiding the way. All the staff that was not at the hospital were asked to walk to a major intersection closest to their home. The hospital was short staffed and a resident delivered our beautiful baby girl at 10:00 pm that night. What a story to be told every year in her birthday. Prior to her birthday Nassau county had an ice storm. We had no electricity for 3 days. Then on February 6th we were hit with another snow storm worse then the first one. Yes we remember that winter well!!!

  15. Anonymous says:

    My son was born in the middle of the 2 storms on Feb 2..He was 2 months premature..my husband took me to Mercy Hospital from Merrick going mph..he was in the NICU but the sent me home on the 4th due to the coming blizzard..he came home on valentines day

  16. Nancy Haines says:

    After many years The blizzard of Feb 6, 1978 leaves an imprint on our family. My daughter Donna was all set to celebrate her 7th birthday at school with her cupcakes. De sated she could not go to school for days, nor could the family come, it has remain a snow memory for years. This her 45th birthday I have made her a memory snowman quilt!

  17. Larry LoVerde says:

    I remember that winter well I was 21 living in patchogue . I moved with my parents the summer before from north massapeque .we already had a couple of small snow storms that turned to rain a larger storm that was supposed to turn to rain but didn’t we had about 15″ of heavey wet snow then an ice storm then the blizzard. I worked in farmingdale at the time on Allen blvd.we left home at 7am that Monday snow had just started in Patchogue we arrived at work about 7:45.there was about 2″ on the ground. By 10am it was really snowing heavey. We left work at noon already almost a foot had fallen. We made our way towards home at a snails pace , we didn’t get home until 8:30 that night.we accomplished that by driving east on the west bound lanes of sunrise hwy from Lakeland ave to broadway ave then it was blocked off by police we had to take back roads the rest of the way. 38 years have passed I have never again seen it snow so hard for so long over such a large area I was out there for 81/2 hrs and witnessed some amazing snow fall rates.in the end I believe Islip airport recorded 31 inches but enormouse drifts was the big problem. I will never forget that experience. Sunrise hi way was one lane for about 4 days.

  18. Brad says:

    I’ll never forget that February. I was in 7th grade at the time, and we lived on a corner. With the wind and the repeated plowings, the snow piles on the corner were over six feet high. Cars literally could not see around them to make a turn. I discovered that the easiest way to explore those snow piles was on my belly — in other words, using the principle of snowshoes, I literally swam across them!

    For us, there was also a couple of other unusual benefits. Unlike just about every other severe weather situation on Long Island in those days, we did not lose power for a single minute. (Back in the great ice storm of mid-December 1973, we weren’t so lucky.)

    The same wasn’t true for my school, a small private school. We had the week off like everyone else, but when the next Monday rolled around, we got a phone call: the school still had no power, so we were still out — and that situation didn’t change for the entire week! (It never seemed that LILCO was that prompt to do anything … but one’s always impatient about lost power.)

    On top of that, the next week was our regularly scheduled mid-winter break, so we wound up not going back to school for an entire three weeks! You can imagine how happy we kids were — until we were informed that we had to make up one of the lost weeks at the end of the year …

  19. Anonymous says:

    I remember having alot of fun,my dad was at work for days, now I do snow removal, and couldn’t stand the fact of getting that much snow,

  20. Dazzlin' Don says:

    I remember it very well. I was 20 years old and worked with my dad in a father and son soft drink business aka Coca-Cola. Our route was Downtown Brooklyn and we lived in Wantagh. My parents had just purchased their home the summer prior to the storm. We had lived in apartments in Queens up until then.

    I am much older than my three younger sisters and since my mother suffered with bad health issues, I helped to take care of them and the house.

    That morning, my dad woke up and started a fire in our wood burning double-sided fireplace. It was a good move as we had electric heat and the power was out… Brrrrrr! Dad cooked bacon and eggs on a cast iron pan, right in the fireplace. My kid sisters thought it was a winter dream.

    The many large trees on our front and back yards hung low from the weight of the heavy snow collected on the branches. It looked like a postcard. I took several photos of the property, the street, and of course my sisters frolicking on the snow. Sadly the pictures were all destroyed a decade later from a flood. The pictures may be gone, but the memories are forever!

  21. JAKKI says:

    I WAS 13 YEARS OLD AND HAD JUST MOVED FROM TENNESSEE TO LONG ISLAND, NY ON FEBRUARY 4TH. ON FEBRUARY 6TH IT SNOWED MORE SNOW THEN I HAD EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!! SCHOOL WAS CLOSED FOR 2 WEEKS!!!

  22. Mark says:

    L Was In St. Thomas, V.i. snow bound. Had to basque in the sun for 3 additional days before I could get a plane back home.

  23. Jim the stud. says:

    I remember it well. I got my girlfriends sister pregnant . It was a big deal because i was 15 at the time and she was 21.

  24. Mary Elizabeth says:

    I remember it well. I was 26 and visiting a former college chum in Stoneybrook, NY. We got snowed in at the house of a friend of his. Thankfully, there were plenty provisions and the company couldn’t have been better. It made me love a good blizzard even more!

  25. Julie says:

    I remember the entire block (10 houses each side) coming together to shovel) only got first houses dug to main rd. And that took 2 days!!!! As a 12 year old I felt the ground start to rumble and heard a loud engine. At the opposite end of the road was a large national guard plow that was 3 times our large plows are now. Lights on and pushing a wall of snow. Seemed like a hero monster. Plow driver and another in vehicle were having a blast watching our eyes. They made it so much fun. Actually made the mounds higher than necessary so we could use our sleighs. Best time ever

  26. Jean wahler says:

    Had a 14 month old son and a 8 ur old daughter ran out of milk hubby stuck at precient for two days got his buddy to bring milk to me driveway was 3 ft of snow poor bob walked thru thigh high snow to give me milk yes I remember it well

  27. Barry says:

    Picking cars up with a 10 yard payloader to clear parking areas in an apt. complex in Pt. Jefferson. Snow piled 20 feet high. Snow drifts over the tops of residences front doors. Thunder snow & lighting.

  28. Gil Hunter says:

    I remember “Bob” at WCBS predicting the storm almost a week before.I worked at Pan Am at Kennedy Airport and by 11am they told everyone to go home. Driving on the Belt Pkwy and then Southern State I could not believe the amount of clueless people spinning out on the road and was like “bumper cars” on my way home to No. Hempstead.Stopped off to get pizza in Uniondale and that almost cost us a lot of trouble- I had 3 inches on snow on the hood of my car in 15 minutes!. We had a burst of the heaviest snow ever seen by me and I have been in several storms in Lake Tahoe at 6500-8,000feet and yes they were BAD – but this 1978 storm was “genetically different”-like a hurricane with snow… as it was at sea level with it dumping over 6 inches in about 90 minutes at 1:30-3pm on that Monday. On way home from pizza I had the pedal to the metal as the snow was so deep already and piling up on Oak street that ran north on the west side of the Hofstra University Campus. I was literally plowing snow another mile running like mad -gunning the car and my snow tires on my Crown Vic and made it home half way into the driveway- could not dig the car out for 5 days. I still have pictures of me holding onto gas pumps on Clinton Avenue while the wind was gusting abou 80mph. I will never forget that storm- it was a remarkable experience!!

  29. Dylan Keenan says:

    I lived in Speonk on Montauk Hwy. 12 yrs old attending Westhampton Beach Junior High. I remember the big drifts. Friends from Oyster Bay came out to the East End to help on unbury us.

  30. Hank Kalbach says:

    We lived in Setauket. We heard about the impending storm the day before (Sunday). We went to the store and bought essentials – enough to sustain our family of 6 for a week. On Monday morning, I went to work at 6am, packed some records so I could work at home. By 10 am, the snow was starting to accumulate so I drove home. My son and I spent 2 days shoveling the snow off our driveway. In June, we moved to Atlanta.

  31. Jimbo says:

    Winter of 78 was crazy in general. Besides the big blizzard there were ice storms and lots of snow storms. I was a college student at SJU in Jamaica Queens. At that time they RARELY closed for snow storms. This was no exception. So for at least 2 days I could not get there while they were open. Could not get there from East Northport. Strange that they were “open” as most students and many faculty and staff couldn’t get there either! LOL.

  32. Dora Pap says:

    I remember oh too well, My parents had a diner and was the only one open, my dad picked up all the employeess so we could stay open. We tried to get home and our streets we blocked with 3 feet of snow. We tried to get back to the diner and we got caught in a 6 foot drift on Hempstead turnpike, where it dips for the Meadow brook parkway. Yes and I, a girl dug us out, so my dad would not have a heart attack …….. finally got back to the diner at 4 am, slept a couple of hours and went back to work ….. Yes I remember it very well lol you think

  33. Anthony Lojo says:

    My dad took my brother, my cousin, and me ice skating on a pond on the west side of Rte. 231 @ Sunrise Highway in North Babylon. It was a Sunday afternoon, Two weeks before my 15th birthday. We all were hearing about the impending snowstorm but at 4:00pm the sky was still clear. I commented to my father that it didn’t look as if we would get any snow and he said you’d be surprised how quickly the weather can change. We lived in Brentwood at the time and after dropping my cousin off at his house on Van Street we went home (Stahley Street). My mom said “don’t count on school being closed tomorrow so go to bed by 9:30pm” which we did. When we got out of bed the next morning, our entire world was blanketed with 24 inches of snow and it was still coming down heavy. The Drifts piled up to the elementary school roof and the roads were impassable. Not only did we not have school, but schools were closed for a full week which ran directly into our Winter Break. 16 days of snowball fights, snow forts, shoveling, skitching (remember that ?) and neighbors coming together through it all. Best memories. I’ll take those days any time.

  34. Radar Don says:

    I was staying in the Bayshore Inn while going to a factory school for the USAF foduring most of Jan and half of Feb. I was there for both snow events and the ice storm. The rooms opened to the outside and I remember one morning opening the door and there was a wall of snow at least to the roof in front of me. Since the rooms didn’t come with snow shovels I had to break out the hard way. We spent the whole day digging out the parking lot by hand. The inn was filled with electrical crews from surrounding states. Just to make things interesting, I had to PCS move from Fl to Ms as soon as I got back south and my son was born in Tx at the end of Jan. He was almost 3 months old when I met him. Yes, I have many memories of that time. I live in upstate NY now and that kind of winter is fairly normal these days.

  35. Alan Burg says:

    I was a 15 y/o kid living In Melville during the blizzard,we had no school for more than a week, we had to walk from Melville to wyandanch with a toboggan to get groceries, the walls of snow on the side of the road towered over us, and I will never forget how peaceful it was, the walls acted like sound buffers.

    • Frank L. says:

      I worked at Sears in the Gardiner Manor Mall in Bay Shore and lived one mile away on Manor Lane. We closed the store before noon and there was over a foot of snow on the ground already. I loaded five people who had walked to work into my 67 camaro and drove them home through Brightwaters, West islip, Bay Shore before going home without getting stuck until 100′ before my driveway in a two foot snow drift. My younger brother and his friends helped dig me out so I could get the car in the driveway. Two of these days later the store manager called me and asked me to open the store if I could get there with all of the roads still unplowed. I strapped my boots to a pair of water skis and made it to the store. The snow drift in the back of the store went from the parking lot West side to the second floor roof of the building and the entire West side of the automotive center was buried to the roof. Two other employees walked to the store and we had customers walk in buying batteries, film, the few shovels of any type we had, candles and games. It was something I will never forget. One wild thing was to see a brand new ellos Datsun 260 Z sitting on top of a giant pile of snow on Sunrise where a payloader had put it while clearing all the abandoned cars on the highway.

  36. Chris V Rotella says:

    I remember getting off work at 11 and heading to a bar in Huntington Station to play pool and grab a few beers. When we got out, there was ice coming down and several inches on the ground. Needless to say somehow we walked home and then there was an explosion of snow the next day. No college classes for me for 3 days and a party at my parents house as they left to go to my grandparents house, who had electricity. Good times great memories!

  37. carol donnelly says:

    I was 18. First I remember Frank a deli owner who walked miles in snow to open deli so people could have milk,bread and etc. He was great. I also remember we lost electricity and my dad thought it could make light stonger by putting thick shoe lace in candles. Next day everything we wore white or light was “Black”. Very funny. He tried. love him

  38. L says:

    I remember the ice storms – leaves and branches encased in ice. The best snow that year. Made many forts out of the banks of snow left over from the plowing. So much snow, so much snow.

  39. Ralph says:

    What an AMAZING website !! So happy to find it !! Thanks so much for the doing this !

  40. Marco says:

    I lived in Hollis queens which is very close to long island I was around 5 yrs old but I remember

  41. Blaze says:

    I remember that blizzard as well we lived in Levittown at the time I was about 15 years old we were out of power for about 5 days we had to stay with our Aunt who lived in Hicksville. I Remember some families being out of power for up to 2 weeks with school being out I had a history project due with school being cancelled during the week I took my time working on the project.

  42. Jeff says:

    I wasn’t allowed in the snow because it was over my head 🙁

  43. Dave says:

    I was only 6 at the time but I still remember that week vividly. My dad was unable to get to the gym (“health club” at that time) that he ran in Manhattan at the time so he spent the week at home, digging tunnels throughout our backyard in Coram for my younger sister and I to play in. Great memories.

  44. Elissa D. says:

    I soooo remember this! We lived in Selden at that time. Our house was at the top of a small hill (driveway had a major slope!) and the snow was EVEN with our front porch. So much snow. We missed so much school that they canceled spring break that year, and we had to cancel a trip to Florida. Crazy!

  45. Denny says:

    Was 14 at the time, lived in Hauppauge, lived off tow line road, took a week for our neighborhood to get plowed. Made money shoveling drive ways.

  46. Debbie pickering says:

    I had just had my beautiful baby boy. No one was aloud in or out of the hospital. I had a section the day before. All the great nurses stayed over night my husband never came back in was 25 us old. I got to hold my precious boy and watch the amazing storm. It was really unexpected. But we truly bonded in that storm just Jeff and myself.

  47. Alice says:

    I was in junior high in West Hempstead. When school resumed in I had to walk a mile and a half on Hempstead trnpke to get to GW JUNIOR HIGH because the sidewalks were still covered with 10 foot snowdrifts. It was a dangerous and very slushy walk for at least a week back and forth to school. These days they would never have opened the schools till it was safe for everyone. I live in West Michigan these days and it’s amazing how they baby kids these days when it comes to even a little snow. And this place is known for large amounts of lake effect snow. Anyway, that storm was definitely memorable.

  48. Danny McAleese says:

    I’ll never forget this storm! My friend Jason and I both began tunneling toward each other’s houses and eventually met in the middle of our unplowed street. There was nothing more exciting than breaking through the wall and being able to run back and forth to each other’s houses during the whole week we had home from school.

    Simpler times, man. Back when the littlest things were tremendously exciting.

  49. Veronica says:

    I sure do remember Living on eastern Long Island……wehad a five year old and a 4 month old baby and NO power……

  50. Anonymous says:

    I was 17 and that blizzard was something I will never forget.we walked on newbridge rd in n.Bellmore with no cars in sight then we walked onto SS pkwy which was completely snow covered and of course no cars also and we saw 2 snowmobiles come riding by on the pky and I thought that so cool

  51. Julie says:

    I was a junior at Stony Brook living in Dreiser and the campus was closed for a week. My suite mates and I amused ourselves one afternoon by going downstairs to the dorm soda machine wearing raincoats (with nothing underneath) to buy cans of Tab soda. This was followed by a burping contest. My ‘68 Plymouth Fury was buried in a 4 foot snow drift. Being dorm residents we did not have snow shovels so we dug it out with a frying pan and an empty desk drawer. At night we traipsed across Nicholls Rd to sleigh ride St George’s golf course on cafeteria trays.

    • Carmine says:

      Julie:
      I was just about to start a new job at The Museums at Stony Brook; just North-West from the campus. Eventually, normalcy returned, and things re-opened.
      Working there, as Staff Photographer, was an incredibly interesting experience. I also spent (too) many hours and $$$ at The Park Bench restaurant.
      ‘Loved your post…

  52. Dave Harris says:

    I was an engineer working at AIL, an electronics company. We had scheduled a major sales meeting and had sales people from all over the world coming in and who were landing all over the East because the planes couldn’t come into NY. My boss, Jim Philbin told us to get home, pack a bag, and get to the Ramada Inn on Vets Highway in Hauppauge and be prepared to stay several days. We became snowed in for three or four days. I was a runner and would go out every morning and see if Veterans Hwy or the LIE was open.. the standing joke was, like the biblical Noah’s dove who finally found dry land and didn’t return to the Ark, if I didn’t return it meant that I was able to find open roads and went home. There were no cell phones and most of the telephones weren’t working.

  53. Peggy Pullizzi says:

    I was a student at Hofstra University and we were snowed in on campus. Dining hall staff was snowed in so we were able to eat and sneak out stacks of the trays for sledding. Getting from the dorms to the cafe was tricky during the blizzard conditions early in the storm but we linked arms and trudged through. My car was completely buried in a snow drift and after 4the storm my brother came from NJ to dig it out and charge the battery. There was nothing moving for the entire week – no classes, hardly anyone going to work. A group of friends and I walked down the middle of Hempstead Turnpike to our local diner hangout just to get out of the dorms. Great memories!

  54. dgb says:

    I was 9. All the fish in our fish tank died because the power went out. I also remember hearing thunder during the storm. Never heard thunder during a snow storm before or since.

  55. Stephen Ledesky says:

    It was crazy, we had a ball, no school, we couldn’t ask for anything more, I was 15 yrs old and will never forget the memories of that storm!

  56. Dave says:

    I was 14 and living in the numbered streets in Bethpage. The snow plows “forgot” to plow some of the dead-end streets, so we were snowed in for an extra few days before some of the dads chased one down. While we were snowed in, my mom and I managed to get our VW Bug out from in front of the house and into the driveway before it got totally buried by the plows.

    My mom took me to nearby Bethpage State Park with my sled and I enjoyed an afternoon of sleigh riding on the golf courses.

    We lost a week of school, which got appended onto the end of the school year in late June, nearly extending into July by the time all the state regents exams were done.

    It was a fun time to be a kid!

  57. Jake says:

    I have pictures of myself at 6 yrs old ice skating down Burnham Ave,my family homes street,in Roslyn Heights.

    • Steve l says:

      What a storm, roaming around the streets of bayville Long Island, not a care in the world, I was 15 years old, hanging out with all my friends, those were real special times I will never forget, it was a great town to grow up In, the one person I miss the most was my friend Pam j I will never forget her, still thinking of her, after all these years,

  58. Cat says:

    Great Memories I was 9 living in PJS.
    I remember my block we all dug tunnels to each other’s houses.
    I recall being out all day long and yet not feeling cold but being dressed in a zillion layers. Snowball fights and hot chocolate during the day, Flashlight tag at night. That and hurricane Gloria I can remember Vividly and fondly.

  59. Steve says:

    Boy do I remember that ice storm, it was really bad, my fondest memories was sleeping in front of the fireplace in sleeping bags, you made the best out of it,

  60. Michelle says:

    I lived in North Babylon and I was only 7 at the time but I remember this like it was yesterday. We had the longest forts and played in the snow for days. I didn’t understand how we could play out there for hours and the cold weather not bother us. I loved being out of school for a whole week.

  61. Rob says:

    I was eleven and remember it well. My brother and I climbed out onto the garage roof and jumped into a huge snow drift on the side of house. Dad was not happy we did that. 22 inches of snow. During the height of the storm, the winds were very strong, and I remember watching if the big tree on the front lawn was going to fall over. Luckily, it did not.

  62. Julie says:

    I was a junior at Stony Brook and lived on campus. The entire university shut down for a week. My suite mates and I were not on a meal plan. We ran out of food and money. My ‘68 Plymouth Fury was buried in snow up to the windshields. Without a shovel, we dug the car out using a frying pan and an empty desk drawer. Finally we were able to get to Pathmark to buy food and get cash.

  63. Mark Ax says:

    I was at the hospital while my wife was delivering our new baby girl! No electricity there.

  64. John says:

    My friend Craig and myself shoveled out some houses all day. Late afternoon we shoveled out cars in a cooperative parking lot till dark. We made close to $300 which was big money for 12 yr olds back then. Got home to my warm cozy house and passed out in the living room. Find me some kids that would work like that today!!… lol

  65. Ruben says:

    I had moved to South Carolina in 1977. I hadn’t finished building my log cabin that winter so moved back in with my father until April 1, 1978, so I was in our Smithtown home when the blizzard hit. I remember studying an American Sign Language book, going through it over and over during the three months I lived there, leaving for “home” in S.C. on April 1. I still remember the signing I learned during that time, but not the storm.

  66. Janine Bryant says:

    I was 17. My sister was 16. I remember jumping out of bed that morning, knowing already we had no school, looking out the window and seeing a world of white and yelling to my sister, “Look outside!” We decided to call our best friend at the time, “Lyla” and begged her to come over so we could all go out in the storm. The worst of it was over but it was still snowing. Our motive? I hate to say it but we wanted a cigarette! We couldn’t smoke in our houses (since our parents didn’t know we smoked), so as new smokers who still really enjoyed it like it was one of the most satisfying, relaxing, and fun things to do (before it became a habit I had to quit 25 years ago) we were eager to get out. So our friend arrived and we bundled up and out we went. We headed off our block in North Babylon to Deer Park Avenue and couldn’t believe it! Where was the road?! DPA was gone! It was just a vast field of untouched white. It was hard to get our bearings especially since snow was still coming down and blowing around in the wind. There wasn’t a single car and the street signs were buried! We could only see the fuzzy red and green of the traffic lights. We used those to orient ourselves and find Sunset City. We had tried to light a cigarette outside but it was impossible because of the wind so we were looking for someplace open. Our go-to was usually Sunset Lanes (the bowling alley) but that was closed along with everything else. There was nary a human in sight and as we shivered in the storm we came up with new lyrics to a popular song at the time. The song was “The Things we do for Love” . We only changed one word. We substituted “cigarettes” for “love” and had our song. So then it went like this;—the things we do for cigarettes, like walking through the rain and the snow…..etc., and we’ d double over in silly teenage girl laughter. Finally we found an open laundromat. No one was in there, they must’ve never came back to lock it. And the 3 of us, dripping wet, cheeks red, shivering cold, had our cigarette. I still remember it as the best cigarette and the most fun storm, ever.

  67. Mary B says:

    I was living in Hicksville, Long Island, NY and was in 4th grade. My cousins came over with their parents because their heat had stopped working. My oldest cousin who was about 17 wanted to go ice skating but we all thought this was crazy because all the roads were blocked with snow.

  68. Anthony Lojo says:

    I remember the Sunday before the storm thinking how clear the sky was. My dad said the weather can change in minutes. He was right because on Monday morning we were buried under two feet of snow. I was 15 old and lived in Brentwood at the time and I remember my friends and I enjoying our week off from school. The best thing was that the week off rolled right into our Winter Break so we actually had 14 days off from school. The snow drifts were as high as the school building near my house and we were able to walk up onto the roof. I would take those days back in a second. Great times.

  69. Anthony Lojo says:

    I forgot that I posted a story back in 2018. Sorry !! Getting old isn’t so great

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