Who Bought the First Ford Mustang?-- Part 6: Old License Plate and the Blizzard of '67

Affixed to Gail Wise's Mustang is a 1964 Illinois license plate and a 1965 Chicago city sticker.  The Mustang has also benefited from a relatively good fortune to celebrate sixty years in the family's possession.

In the early days, she managed to make it home without abandoning the rear-wheel drive car in snowdrifts-- the fate of tens of thousands of vehicles-- as Chicago's Great Blizzard of 1967 dumped 23 inches of snow on the city.

As it was, Wise was blocked  by the blizzard from sheltering the Mustang in the garage so it had to stay out on the street as the snow covered it.

--DaMustang

2011 Was Our 'Snowmageddon', Chicago's Groundhog Day Blizzard, Our 'Snowpocalypse

As we slowly melt out, and in my case, chop out, from the remnants of the Winter of '21, I am reminded of another major snow event, now ten years in the past.

There was an article about it in the January 31, 2021, Chicago Tribune "A freak of nature paralyzed Chicago" by William Lee.

"Ten years ago, a unique storm of extremes tested every crack in Chicago's infrastructure, halted most forms of transportation and humbled a city that prides itself on powering through any kind of weather.

"This wasn't the city's biggest blast of  snow.  Generations of kids were brought up on stories of then towering mounds of snow in the 1967 blizzard, which inspired author George R.R. Martin's iconic ice wall in "Game of Thrones" and the 1979 blizzard that swung a mayoral election, among others."

But this one was particularly mean.  It hit hard and it hit fast.  Lots of snow and lots and lots of wind.  I mean lots of wind.

This one was also called "Snowpocalypse."

It comes in officially as Chicago's 3rd biggest snowstorm.

To see the Top Ten snowstorms in Chicago, click on the Chicago Blizzard of 1967 label.

--CootSnow

Chicago's Ten Biggest Snowfalls

From the January 25, 2017, Chicago Tribune.

Since 1885.

1.  Jan. 26-27, 1967--  23 inches    The Blizzard of '67
2.  Jan. 1-3, 1999--  21,6 inches
3.  Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2011--  21.2 inches    The Groundhog Day Blizzard

4.  Jan. 12-14, 1979--  20.3 inches
5.  Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2015  19.3
6.  March 25-26, 1930--  19.2 inches
7.  March 7-8, 1931--  16.2 inches

8.  January 30, 1939--  14.9 inches
9.  Jan. 6-7, 1918--  14.9 inches
10.  Dec. 17-19, 1929--  14.8 inches

Snow me Away.  --Cooter

Chicago's Blizzard of '67-- Part 2: 23 Inches in 29 Hours

The first flakes of snow started falling at 5:02 a.m., on Thursday, January 26, 1967.  And, they continued and got heavier.  It didn't stop until 10:10 a.m., Friday January 27 (fifty years ago today).  Over the course of 29 hours, 23 inches of snow had fallen.

The previous record snowfall for Chicago was 19.2 inches on March 25 and 26, 1930, according to the National Weather service.

Chicago and its suburbs were at a standstill.  An estimated 50,000 cars had simply been abandoned downtown as well as 800 CTA buses.

Further compounding the problem were high winds, gusting up to 50 mph.  The drifts were something else.  Kids would jump off second floor balconies into the snow drifts which nearly reached that height.  And. my family and I lived in Palatine, Illinois, in Chicago's Northwest suburbs.  We were hit as well.

That Was SOME Snow.  --DaCoot

Chicago's Blizzard of '67-- Part 1: The Warm Before the Storm

From the January 25, 2017,  Chicago Tribune "Blizzard of 1967 shut down Chicago," by Nereida Moreno.

Yesterday marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Blizzard of '67, as it has come to be known.  It started January 26th and ended 29 hours later on January 27.  Twenty-three inches of snow fell.

And, this was the impact on a city that was ready for snow in winter.  Not some southern city where an inch shuts down everything.

Earlier in the week, temperatures were unseasonably high, topping out at 65 degrees on January 25, 1967, a very unusually warm day for a Chicago January.  Local weather news predicted at least 4 inches of snow the next day, Thursday, January 26..  However, in Chicago, if you get that warm of a day in the winter, WATCH OUT!!  Something's on its way.

Everyone was getting a case of spring fever.  I wasn't much as I could only go to school and back home as I had broken my leg in wrestling practice back in December.

We had about an inch of snow here yesterday, and snow flurries afterwards, but no more accumulation.  However, eerily, the temps last week were in the 50s and lower 40s earlier this week.

Build Me a Snowman.  --Cooter

What's in a Name? Must Be a Chicago-Suburb Thing

Yesterday, listening to Bob Stroud play the full three hours of his Rock and Roll Roots Show with just music playing on the radio (that would be WLS and WCFL, both AM stations) and in our record collections, he kept referring to the storm as "The Great Snowstorm of '67."

I always called it the "Blizzard of '67." Liz said that in Chicago, where she was living when it happened, they called it "The Great Snowstorm of '67." Since my brother Bob and I were living in Palatine, a suburb of Chicago, it might have been a suburb-Chicago thing.

Bob Stroud played fifty songs in the three hours of his show yesterday. You have to love those three-minute and under songs. I'll be posting some of the set list and Stroud's comments and mine on my Down Da Road I Go Blog today.

Liz and I had a nice conversation about the Blizzard or Snowstorm. I'm sure we got off school on the Friday, but think we might have been back at school as early as Monday or Tuesday the next week. Liz said her school, Madonna High School in Chicago, was closed the entire next week.

I Hate Snow for the Most Part. Makes You Wonder Why I Continue to Live Here in the Midwest. --RoadDog

45th Anniversary of Chicago's Blizzard of '67: Brother Bob Still Claims I Did It On Purpose

It slipped my mind, too, until Bob Stroud (not the Bob I am referring to in the headline) said that his Sunday Rock and Roll Roots Show was going to highlight the music playing on our radios when we were a bit snowbound back on January 27, 1967.

Starting at 5:02 AM on Thursday, Jam. 26th, the snow came and didn't stop until 10:10 AM on Friday, Jan. 27th. This was the biggest snowfall in Chicago's history. It also came with lots of wind (hey, Windy City) and we had drifts. Mighty big drifts and the city ground to a standstill.

Just two days earlier, temps in Chicago had been an extremely unseasonal 65 degrees. Then the temps started to drop, then the snow came.

To add insult to injury, we got four more inches Feb. 1st and four days later, another ten inches.


DID IT ON PURPOSE

This was in the days before snow blowers, when the home's boys were expected to get out there with snow shovels and clear the driveway and sidewalks. There were two of us, but the only thing was that I had broken my right ankle wrestling back in December and had a full cast. So...I couldn't help clear all that snow.

Brother Bob swore that I must have known this was coming and had broken my ankle on purpose. I just sat there watching TV with a big smile on my face as he trudged out the door, uttering what I suppose were oaths of love under his breath.

I'll be listing some songs from the WLS Silver Dollar Survey for January 27, 1967, on my Down Da Road I Go Blog.

So, If You Lived Through It (BOB) or Just Like to Hear a Lot of Great Music from 45 Years Ago, Give It a Listen. --DaCoot

Bob's Aching Back (Or, Chicago's Blizzard of 1967)

Talked with my brother Bob yesterday in connection with the horrible thing at my alma mater, Northern Illinois.

After awhile, we got to talking about the snow that we're getting clobbered with this winter. That brought back fond (well, for me) memories of the Blizzard of 1967.

Bob has not really forgiven me for it, even to this day. Back in November, 1966, I had broken my leg in wrestling practice a few days after my first match (which I won, by the way). I had a cast all the way up to my hip and this was a big ole plaster one. That took care of my having to do any chores around the house. 

Then came the Blizzard of '67 and we got socked with 24 inches of snow out in Palatine. Manning the snow shovels was part of my brother's and my job description. Dad didn't need a snowblower (and I'm not even sure they had them back then) with two strapping young lads to clear the white stuff off. Guess who couldn't do any snow shoveling due to an old sports injury?

Bob claimed that I knew it was coming and broke my foot on purpose. You never heard more grumbling as he put on his boots, coat, cap, and gloves and trudged out the door. I just sat there playing my NHL hockey game I'd gotten for Christmas with a big old smile on my face. I did feel some pity for the poor guy, but that broken leg had finally come in handy.

Yesterday, he told me the snow was so deep, he had to remove it in layers which took a long time. He was also mad at the Catholics because there was a church and school across the street. In Palatine, you had to also clear off sidewalks. His sidewalk clearing job was only the width of the shovel. He didn't care if people had to walk sideways to pass, he would shovel no more.

Sorry 'Bout that Dear Bro...Heh, Heh, Heh. --Cooter