How well I recall that day in 1978. I was working full time for Henry L. Hanson ( now the NE Telephone company ) on Brooks Street. The storm got progressively worse as the morning went on, and just after noontime they sent all of us home because a state of emergency was declared. At the time, I lived on Wilbur Street, a "private street" just south of the West Boylston line in Worcester. A friend showed up in a 4 wheel drive truck and did his best to remove the snow from the driveway as well as a path for my front wheel drive Honda Civic along Wilbur Street with his huge snow thrower. Back in those days, I was also a part-time radio announcer ( Larry Baxter ) for WORC-AM. B.J. Dean, telephoned me and asked me to come in if at all possible. Being young and foolish, I hopped in my trusty Honda and drove down West Boylston Street towards the city. The first memorable sight was the parking lot at the Registry of Motor Vehicles ( now an overpass of I-190 at Greendal Mall ) there were cars abandonded with snow to their roofs in that lot, and not a soul on the road. Abandonded automobiles were scattered about the street, the snowplows forged a path around them. it was like a maze at times. Main St. had snowmobiles going up and down it, some with sleds attatched. I parked my vehicle in the Worcester Center parking garage and walked across Worcester Common to the Portland Street studios of WORC. It was a total white out. I literally could not see my had in front of my face and had to shuffle along the reflecting pond and judge where I was by the drifts of snow where benches once were. The wind was blowing heavily, nearly knocking me down. At the station were Susan Sullivan, who was a news person, and Dave O'Gara, WORC's morning man. Susan and I kept WORC on the air throughout the night, reporting on events like the collapse of a nursing home roof, and closing of area businesses. Dave O'Gara was fortunate to get a room for the night at the Holiday Inn so he could be on-air for the morning shift. That next morning, my father contacted me from the Grove St. firehouse where he spent the night, unable to navigate the roads. I went to the firehouse and picked him up and we headed towards Whipple Street. A tough hill to climb in a car in a light snow, let alone after a storm of this magnitude. Our route took us down Main St to Southbridge St to Quinsigamond Ave., where I figured I could get on I-290 via the on ramp which looked passable. Well, right at the bottom of the ramp was a 4-5 foot high drift that neither of us saw until the car plowed into it. A kind snow plow driver gave us a push, and onto the officialy closed I-290 we went. It was impossible to exit at the Rt 146 Millbury St exit. There was snow in 6-8 ft drifts. Southbridge Street exit had a police car on the ramp, it's lightbar on the roof was the only thing visable. Finaly, we found the Rt 20 exit passible and took it to Greenwood Street and after a goodly struggle, the front wheel drive Honda made it to the top of that Whipple Street hill and I got my dad home safely. That is my personal experience with the Blizzard of '78. Today I reside in Tampa Bay Florida, and make regular trips to the Worcester area where the majority of my family still resides. Larry Barter

Blizzard of 1978 brings back alot of memories. I'm 34 but back then I was 10 years old and I remember jumping off my roof and landing in the snow. I still remember opening the door and seeing all that snow fall. I was so amazed at the storm. We had no electricity for days and school also was closed for days. Me and my friends built a huge mountain of snow and we made makeshift slides and we spent the day having so much fun. That is one storm i truly will never forget. It especially keeps a friend of mine to dear heart because she was one of my friends who I spent the blizzard of 1978 playing with. She kept me busy when we didn't have school. She tragically died in a car accident so we never got to talk about our experiences of that great snow day.

I live in Colorado but grew up in Worcester. I remember that blizzard well I was fourteen and in eigth grade. My girlfriend and I had a blast. I seem to remember getting about two or three weeks off from school and spending most of it sledding at Green Hill Park. I remember my Dad had to be rushed to the hospital. The ambulance couldn't make it to our house so they called the National Guard. They had to leave their jeep at the bottom of Dix Street and hike up with the strecher. Then of course they carried my Dad down the street, that was quite a sight.

I too was 5 years old when the Blizzard of '78 hit. I remember tunnelling out of the back door of our house at 121 Westboro Road, No. Grafton, MA. My mother was a Nurse's Aide at Westboro State Hospital at the time, and was snowed into the Hospital for 3 days, living on the food and drinks in the snack machines! The children in the little snow suits in the pictures above bring back sweet memories. Your Mom would suit you up, which was like getting ready for prolonged deep-sea diving, with the sweaters, long-johns, mittens, hats & snowsuit. then you'd go outside. After a few snow angels and building a castle with the snow-brick maker, you'd be soaking wet from the melted snow, and have to go in. Mom would now do the same as she had before only in reverse, and then make hot chocolate. You'd sit inside the rest of the day and sip cocoa, watching the cars spin their wheels in the brown snow on the roads. Ah, Winter in New England.

Yeh I remember the blizzard of 78. I was living at the time at Hanscom AFB in Bedford, Mass. at the time....I remember the snow drifts being higher than 15 feet as some are reporting....I came up to Mass. in 77 from San Antonio, Texas....It was like a Texas frog choker (thunderstorm) only snow instead of rain and it's was the first time I saw lightening flashes in the clouds and snow coming down so hard that you couldn't see 5 feet in front of you....I believe you call it a whiteout. Remember it put 5 pm traffic in it's place of route 128....Lost a week of work and Hanscom AFB was the only runway open to air traffic because Logan International was shut down......

Hi, I don't have a pic but I was 8 years old when the blizzard hit Worcester. The only thing I remember is the weather man ( I think, Dick Albert, NOT SURE) said that we should expect a dusting of snow only. My mother put us to bed.

Oh my, do I ever remember the blizzard of "78". I was 14 at the time and going to the old Providence St. Jr. High. I remember they let us out of school like 1 1/2 - 2 hours early when it became apparent this was going to be a BIG storm. We ended up out of school for 3 weeks, and had to stay an extra 15 minutes every day for the rest of the school year to make up the lost time. Remember having to poke a broom handle down into the snow under my feet to find my father's car buried in a huge snow drift. Remember the city dumped all the snow on the Blackstone river bank on Mckeon rd. next to Holy Cross, there was so much snow, there were still traces of it there in June.

i remember the blizzard of 78 very well, i was living in athol,mass.i was only 7 just turned in december. we were just about to move into our new home, and the blizzard hit so we had to move in the next weekend. our new house was on a dead end street. so they plows had no where to put the snow,so they put it right in front of our house right up to the roof. nice of them huh. we had to shovel it out and i remember i was shoveling too. and this huge mound of snow came right down on me. i was buried in the snow mound. my father eventually got me out. i am glad we have never had a storm like that again. i still live in new england ... in n.h. i still like the snow but not like that.

What I remember about the blizzard of 78 is trying to get my wife to the hospital at Britian Sq for my son's birth. I took 6 hours and a friend's 4WD to come get us.

Boy do those pictures of the blizzard of 78 bring back memeories at the time we lived at the top of gage street or otherwise known as St.Annes Hill my husband went out with my son and the other kids in the neighborhood and made an igloo tunnel out of the snow the kids loved it.

Boy these pictures bring back memories. I was a student at Becker Jr. College (now just Becker College). Our dorm was located on Williams St and I remember a bunch of us using cross country skis to go to the pubs. The bars stayed open until they ran out of liquor and beer. I remember the stores not having milk and bread and only had a few canned goods left. I remember jumping out of second floor windows and off roofs into deep snow drifts the first 2 days of the storm. I can also remember a few guys at WPI jumping out of windows and breaking legs because they didn't realize there were cars under the snow drifts. The best memory of the storm was that the snow stayed clean because you weren't allowed to drive, and everybody had the opportunity to meet neighbors they never knew existed. It was a great time.

I lived in Worcester at the time of the Blizzard of 1978. This was the year I graduated from Worcester Boy's Trade. I now live in Kentucky and I have never seen another storm like it.

I will never forget that storm, I was 15 and living off of Hamelton St. I being young was at the mall downtown and we were advised to stay put which of course I didn't heed. I walked home in the middle of that storm, a 20 minute walk which took me an hour and half but I made it. Next day we were jumping off the 2nd story of our 3-decker into the snow and trying to wade across a big parking lot. Couldn't do it though the snow was up past our waists. We had the bright idea to get rich shoveling peoples driveways, so shovel in hand we set off. After an exhausted hour at my friends grandmothers we shoveled a 3ft square:) So much for rich schemes. I liked that experience so much I decided to live in the land of blizzard of 78's. Having resided in Quebec, New Brunswick and now Fort Kent, Maine the most northern part of the US excluding Alaska. Snow like that is a yearly occurance. Funny I used to dream of myself in a sarong and barefoot in Hawaii, funny where we end up. It's nice to hear these stories as I get homesick sometimes.

Wow, just happened to stumble onto this site and it brings back some great memory's! The "blizzid" of '78 was something else. My buddy Scott and I had graduated from Burncoat High School in '77. We made a ton of money shoveling people out for about a week or so! I now live in North Carolina and must say I don't miss Mass winters one bit. However, having a memory of that storm is one I'll cherrish forever. Thanks for this site, nice to read story's of ole Woosta!

I was 5 at the time living in Lawrence,MASS,I have fond memory's of the blizzard of 78",I was the youngest of nine children and there being no school for days we drove my parents crazy,I remember my brothers having to jump out the window so they could make a path to the side walk,It seemed as if we got 8 feet or so of snow,When we did get the chance to get outside we where walking on top of cars and didn't realize it at first.well i haven't seen a storm like that one yet.Like they say in New England if you like the weather wait a minute.

I vividly remember the Blizzard of '78. I was 15 and remember watching the snow pile up. I lived in Boylston (just north of Worcester) and recall having to push our way out the front door. Our living room window (8 ft high) was completely blocked by snow drifts. My dad had one of the few heavy duty snowblowers on the street. I thought it was great because I made lots of money snowblowing for 5 days. When people talk about blizzards now, I say "this is no blizzard, '78 was a BLIZZARD!!" and they look at me funny. Great site, good memories

I just want to say that i am a transplant of Worcester, Mass. I have been down south, in fact my family left after the blizzard of 78. Just looking at these pictures has been great! So much that I plan to visit my one and only true home Worcester. I know or i am sure alot is no longer there or just changed, but it will still be home.

I remember the blizzard of '78 quite well. I was 7 years old. My mother, Mary-Frances Wood, was a nurse for St. Lukes Hospital. The national gaurd had to come and get her for work. I remember crying and saying to my Dad, Ron Wood, "Mommy's going in the Army!" He reassured me a dozen times that they were only bringing her to work. He let me dial the hospital just to make sure she really was there and not in the Army. I laugh about it now and share that story as well as the stories of my Dad letting us jump out of the bedroom windows on the 2nd floor into snow that was only inches below. What a blast! Robert Wood Formally New Bedford Now resideing in Florida

I just read the book Ten Hours Until Dawn which is a story about the blizzard of 1978 and Frank Quirk and his pilot boat Can do. Okay, I didn't read it, I listened to it on CD. I was at work while I listened to it. When I got to the part that has the actual recording of the radio contact with Frank Quirk, I started crying at work. It was so sad. I recommend reading this book. Or listening to it. It is written very well. It was so well written and narrated it was almost like I was experiencing what was happening. Where was I during the blizzard of 1978?? I was in a Chicago suburb. I'm not sure if my area was affected by the blizzard, but I do remember it was one of the worst snow falls we ever had in that area. I remember that year we had a very heavy snow fall. I was 6 years old and remember a path shoveled out to the street, the snow height was way over my head. I also remember jumping off the roof of our house into a pile of snow. My father was present at the time. He was shoveling the snow off the roof which made the huge pile of snow to jump into. I now live in SW Florida. I miss that snow, but I don't miss that cold.

I'll never forget that storm because it started the night before my 18th birthday and when i woke up and looked out the back door I could not believe my eyes.I was living on Douglas court with my Aunt Mildred and It took me and a couple of neighbors about 8 hours to shovel out our street.It was a private road and they did it last.My car was burried and all I could see was the antena.I'll never forget that day...............steve

I was in my second year of college at Nichols College in Dudley. I remember I just got home from school and it was just starting to snow. My Mom, always so brave, was due in at work. My Dad had told me to make sure she stayed home as she had already gotten stranded in one storm. We lived in the boonies, Spencer, MA. I kept my Mom home and when my Dad got home he was so relieved. I can remember Govenor Dukakis with his sweater on telling us not to go out on the roadways. We lost power for a few days and I remember the Electric Company trucks coming in from NY to help out Mass Electric. It was nice to HAVE to stay home and just relax with no guilt. I have since moved to Northern FL. Worcester has changed SOOOO much. It has been taken over by drug dealers and the like. It is not the city I remember. But I do miss the occasional snow storm.

We lived in Brookline. I was in high school. The power was out all over the town. Our house had an old gravity hot water gas fired furnace, not requiring any electricity. Some neighbors came over to stay because their heat was not working. I remember watching the National Guard helicopters landing and taking off in the parking lot behind Kenmore square, near Fenway park, to bring supplies to snowed in people around the suburbs. The roads were mostly empty, but our neighbors were cross country skiing down beacon street.

This is one of my first memories as a child. I was three and I remember climbing up on a 6 ft snnow drift on my parents car to get a snow shovel my parents almost had heart attacks. We lived on Shady lane in Worcester and soon moved to Vegas the winter on 1979 were in Vegas we got 6 inches of snow and my parents were not happy. They thought they would never have to shovel snow in Las Vegas, NV. Never saw snow again like that in Vegas just light dusting.

I was 10 years old when it hit. I remember the brown snow on the street. I remember no sidewalks and every corner in the neighborhood had a huge pile of snow 12 feet high. I remember the snow drifts being really high and you could just dig into the side of them and make your own personal igloo. Then Mom would call me inside because she was worried that I'd get lost in the snow. Mothers and fathers sucked back then, they never let you enjoy anything. Today, Mom's and Dad's would play with their kids and enjoy the blizzard with them.

Irishman is right about parents today playing with their kids and enjoying the blizzard...that's probably because we remember how much fun that blizzard was when we were kids...until our mothers called us in anyway! My mother worried that we'd be hit by the plow so we had to play in the backyard.

Today is Jan 24, 2008. My daughter's birthday. How well I remember my husband driving on all that ice trying to get me to the hospital 40 miles away. We lived at New Haven Ky. The roads were heavy with ice. We made it in time. The heavy part of the blizzard it later that evening. Then the doctors, nurses and staff had trouble making it to the hospital. Some didn't. As patients, we had to help each other. Meals were late. Because of hospital staffs staying at the hosptial, we had no hot water. Newborns were not allowed to go home due to the dangers of the cold. Family and friends could not make it to the hospital. It was a mess. Dangerous, cold and miserable. Each year, on my daughter's birthday, I remember the weather and how things could have turned out worst. We are thankful for "Our Little Snowflake of '78". It was a memorable year for sure!

I was working a nurses aide at the Westboro Nursing Home when the blizzard of 78 hit. I knew it would be bad so I packed a bag. By 11 p.m. that night all the cars in the parking lot were buried. We were trapped there for two days. The cook slept in one of the empty rooms so meals were not a problem. Some people managed to get in on snow mobiles and plows. We had a resident pass away that night. The hearse could not pick her up, so a friend of the funeral director picked her up in a 4 wheel drive. I remember walking to a friends house off the center of Westboro absolutely exhausted and looking for a long sleep. When I got to the house the snow was above my waist and I had to bodily push through it to get to the door. I now live in Florida and don't miss the snow at all.

The blizzard of '78 was when I threw in the towel so to speak. I was a newspaper distributer for the T&G, in Northboro. Some of the kids that worked for me stayed the night in the office stuffing the Sunday paper, so they were stranded there the next day. The papers were late, but they got there late in the morning - and we delivered what we could - at least to the stores. Left for California the next summer and never looked back. Here, I can look on the mountains and see the snow while it's 60-75 in the winter. I remember I had a husky dog that I tried to let out - when I opened the door, the snow was to my eyeballs - he looked at me as if to ask if I was crazy.

thats when i moved away