Official Forum Snow Gage-Snowmageddon II

[oldtimer]

I like to think of the "ease of living" index as how much inconvenience can one expect just to get by. Shoveling snow being quiet inconvenient, whereas putting on sunblock - not so inconvenient. Just kidding. We can drive where we want about 363 days of the year, for example. 

Have you always lived there?  Or did you move from somewhere else?

[Jim Naseum]

 

I like to think of the "ease of living" index as how much inconvenience can one expect just to get by. Shoveling snow being quiet inconvenient, whereas putting on sunblock - not so inconvenient. Just kidding. We can drive where we want about 363 days of the year, for example. 

Have you always lived there?  Or did you move from somewhere else?

 

 

I've lived on the east coast, mountain states, and west coast. Quite a variety actually. 

[oldtimer]

On the west, just socal?

[MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE]

Sometimes it makes me wonder why people continue to live in these conditions.

 

Cuz my house is here....

 

MKP :-)

Edited January 24, 2016 by MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE

[WMcD]

Yes, the storm of 79 affected Chicago politics.

Richard J. Daley who had been in office for decades passed away while in office and Mike Bilandic was appointed mayor by the City Counsel.

His major rival during the following primary election was Jane Byrne. In Chicago, only Democrats win any mayoral election and therefore the primary is everything.

Then the storm hit. As I mentioned, most problems with snow removal was from the subzero temperatures and the freezing point of brine. An additional factor was that the CTA buses and maybe trains had pneumatically operated doors. Compressed air causes water to condense out and this water froze up the works. The trains and buses can't move unless the doors are closed.

Every night on the news, Jane Byrne would be grandstanding and saying that the situation in the city was because Bilandic didn't care, wasn't working enough etc. But if I'm elected in the primary . . . blah, blah blah.

I don't think Bilanick or the city workers were falling down on the job. My observation was that the Department of Streets and Sanitation was doing what they could to remove snow. They had earthmoving equipment to load snow into trucks and dump it in the Chicago River.

You might have seen the Trailways and Greyhound bus station in the Loop (now gone) in the Blues Brothers movie. There was a liquor store there. I saw a woman bring a pint of something out to the operator of a front end loader. Probably a political worker who was instructed to do something, anything, to keep the operators on the job.

The primary election was a couple of weeks later and Jane, not Michael, won -- even though the snow had melted.

Bilandic went on in Illinois politics and eventually served as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. A good man I think.

Snow control seems to be a major issue in Chicago still. When the first flake falls, there is a salt / plow truck to catch it. The mayor's office wants it that way. It could cost re-election. Smile.

WMcD

Edited January 24, 2016 by WMcD

[oldtimer]

It's the city that works!

[Ceptorman]

Yes, the storm of 79 affected Chicago politics.

Richard J. Daley who had been in office for decades passed away while in office and Mike Bilandic was appointed mayor by the City Counsel.

His major rival during the following primary election was Jane Byrne. In Chicago, only Democrats win any mayoral election and therefore the primary is everything.

Then the storm hit. As I mentioned, most problems with snow removal was from the subzero temperatures and the freezing point of brine. An additional factor was that the CTA buses and maybe trains had pneumatically operated doors. Compressed air causes water to condense out and this water froze up the works. The trains and buses can't move unless the doors are closed.

Every night on the news, Jane Byrne would be grandstanding and saying that the situation in the city was because Bilandic didn't care, wasn't working enough etc. But if I'm elected in the primary . . . blah, blah blah.

I don't think Bilanick or the city workers were falling down on the job. My observation was that the Department of Streets and Sanitation was doing what they could to remove snow. They had earthmoving equipment to load snow into trucks and dump it in the Chicago River.

You might have seen the Trailways and Greyhound bus station in the Loop (now gone) in the Blues Brothers movie. There was a liquor store there. I saw a woman bring a pint of something out to the operator of a front end loader. Probably a political worker who was instructed to do something, anything, to keep the operators on the job.

The primary election was a couple of weeks later and Jane, not Michael, won -- even though the snow had melted.

Bilandic went on in Illinois politics and eventually served as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. A good man I think.

Snow control seems to be a major issue in Chicago still. When the first flake falls, there is a salt / plow truck to catch it. The mayor's office wants it that way. It could cost re-election. Smile.

WMcD

Very interesting.

[ZEUS121996]

 

 

 

 

This reminds me of the winter of 1979, i was just a kid and we were jumping out of my friends second story window into the 8 foot snow drifts.

 

Grandma's neighbor had a jacked up 4x4 with huge tires and remember even he gave up and had to shovel his way out of the skinny Chicago side street.

Could this be the blizzard of 1978? I remember that well. We were off from school for 2 weeks

 

I was living in the dorms of Illinois Institute of Technology from 75 to 78. IIT has several iconic buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Mostly black steel and glass. Of course Chicago has lots of snow and subzero temperatures even in normal years.

My recall is that there was snowfall during winter break. The campus was running a skeleton crew because of that and snow drifts piled up among the MvdR buildings.

When the storm cleared the situation on campus was very pretty with mountainous, curved drifts up against the square black steel buildings and a deep blue sky. It was very cold in part because the clear blue sky allows radiation cooling. I think that was not the 78 storm because I recall it being earlier in January.

The big one was in 79. Actually several storms. The amount of snow was not the big issue. Rather, temperatures stayed below zero F. for several weeks. Rock salt, as used on streets, was ineffective.

It is my understanding that the zero on the Fahrenheit scale is established by a saturated brine solution. It just shows how much of snow removal is actually the use of salt to melt it so it can run down to the sewers.

WMcD

 

The big blizzards in Chicago were 1967 & 1979.

 

The 1967 blizzard occurred a little before i was born but i do remember my family talking about it when the 79 blizzard was happening.

 

Could have been in part of late 1978 i would guess, i can't remember myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More images

Great Blizzard of 1978

Occasion

 

The Great Blizzard of 1978, also known as the White Hurricane, was a historic winter storm that struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes from Wednesday, January 25 through Friday, January 27, 1978. Wikipedia

 

 

It was in 79, Jane Byrne was elected mayor since Michael Bilandic couldnt get the snow clear. Growing up on the Fox River, we ran on sleds, more creative people had their VWs and trucks out riding around. It hasn't frozen that thick since, although I think in 87 we had a colder snap where wind chills got down to 70 below. We went to the NFC Championship game and the beer would ice over as soon as it was poured

This is the storm from 2012? Still on the river

No big deal, I remember the storm in 67 and the snow was this high

Edited January 24, 2016 by ZEUS121996

[ZEUS121996]

Sorry for repeating Mr. McD :rolleyes:

 

Mark

[thebes]

Yeah Jane got fired by the voters over that one, as she should have. However,  this jealousy from you Windy City guys can only be interpreted as a desperate, and pretty pathetic, effort by certain municipalities who have had no snow to speak of this year.  Simply put you want to reclaim your title as "hard places to live, it breeds character

etc."

 

What' next? Chicago versus Buffalo for most sustained wind gusts during a whiteout?

 

Let's face, we here in the Nations Capitol are the hardiest souls in the Nation. Not only do we have to put up with copious amounts of political blather, we we have to also shovel enormous amounts of snow. Why? To free us up so we can get into town to, you guessed it, listen to copious amounts of hot wind.

Edited January 25, 2016 by thebes

[oldtimer]

But Chicago is the city that works.  DC has never been called that.

[jason str]

Yeah Jane got fired by the voters over that one, as she should have, but this jealousy from you Windy City guys can only be interpreted as a desperate, and pretty pathetic, effort by certain municipalities who have had no snow to speak of this year.  Simply put you want to reclaim your title as "hard places to live, it breads charterer etc."

 

What' next? Chicago versus Buffalo for most sustained wind gusts during a whiteout?

 

Let's face, we here in the Nations Capitol are the hardiest souls in the Nation. Not only do we have to put up with copious amounts of political blather, we we have to also shovel enormous amounts of snow. Why? To free us up so we can get into town to, you guessed it. listen to copious amounts of hot wind.

 

Jealous ?

 

I could care less about sizing cities up.

 

Just reminded me of times of my childhood is all so figured i would share my story.

[BigStewMan]

Could this be the blizzard of 1978?

i was working on an ice breaker on the Great Lakes that winter.  Remember it well. 

[thebes]

You're right Jason. Just got carried away;  Story telling is what we do here.  Your's is good and thanks for sharing.

[Ceptorman]

 

Could this be the blizzard of 1978?

i was working on an ice breaker on the Great Lakes that winter.  Remember it well. 

 

I'll bet that was an interesting job. I find the whole Great Lakes region very interesting.

[BigStewMan]

 

 

Could this be the blizzard of 1978?

i was working on an ice breaker on the Great Lakes that winter.  Remember it well. 

 

I'll bet that was an interesting job. I find the whole Great Lakes region very interesting.

 

as a PUNK 18 year old, i didn’t realize what a great opportunity it was...as i look back on it, i’m very grateful to have gotten to experience it. Some tough weather that year.

[RT FAN]

28 inches in Central Park, here in NYC. 30+ at JFK airport in Queens, or Idlewild for you old folks or "Goodfellas" fans. The Eastern end of Long Island fared better, 16-18 in Southampton. Main roads were in great shape by yesterday afternoon, the city was fairly sloppy & the outer boroughs still a mess.

[babadono]

Pick your poison...

 

Northeast - Snow, heat and humidity

Southeast - Heat, humidity, torrential rain, flooding

Gulf Coast - Hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes

Midwest - Heat, humidity, snow, tornadoes, flooding

Southwest - Scorching heat, tornadoes, wind

California - earthquakes, no water, freeways

Pacific NW - Earthquakes, volcanoes, rain, flooding

Alaska - earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding, snow, cold, wind 

So basically I'm not getting out alive? Thanks.. back to our regularly scheduled thread

[Confab]

Yes, the storm of 79 affected Chicago politics.

Richard J. Daley who had been in office for decades passed away while in office and Mike Bilandic was appointed mayor by the City Counsel.

His major rival during the following primary election was Jane Byrne. In Chicago, only Democrats win any mayoral election and therefore the primary is everything.

Then the storm hit. As I mentioned, most problems with snow removal was from the subzero temperatures and the freezing point of brine. An additional factor was that the CTA buses and maybe trains had pneumatically operated doors. Compressed air causes water to condense out and this water froze up the works. The trains and buses can't move unless the doors are closed.

Every night on the news, Jane Byrne would be grandstanding and saying that the situation in the city was because Bilandic didn't care, wasn't working enough etc. But if I'm elected in the primary . . . blah, blah blah.

I don't think Bilanick or the city workers were falling down on the job. My observation was that the Department of Streets and Sanitation was doing what they could to remove snow. They had earthmoving equipment to load snow into trucks and dump it in the Chicago River.

You might have seen the Trailways and Greyhound bus station in the Loop (now gone) in the Blues Brothers movie. There was a liquor store there. I saw a woman bring a pint of something out to the operator of a front end loader. Probably a political worker who was instructed to do something, anything, to keep the operators on the job.

The primary election was a couple of weeks later and Jane, not Michael, won -- even though the snow had melted.

Bilandic went on in Illinois politics and eventually served as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. A good man I think.

Snow control seems to be a major issue in Chicago still. When the first flake falls, there is a salt / plow truck to catch it. The mayor's office wants it that way. It could cost re-election. Smile.

WMcD

She's not the first or the last politician to use a snowjob to get elected.

[jimjimbo]

Pick your poison...

Northeast - Snow, heat and humidity

Southeast - Heat, humidity, torrential rain, flooding

Gulf Coast - Hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes

Midwest - Heat, humidity, snow, tornadoes, flooding

Southwest - Scorching heat, tornadoes, wind

California - earthquakes, no water, freeways

Pacific NW - Earthquakes, volcanoes, rain, flooding

Alaska - earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding, snow, cold, wind

So basically I'm not getting out alive? Thanks.. back to our regularly scheduled thread

Nope