Most memorable winter weather.

stretch5881

stretch5881

Member
Location
Wisconsin
The most memorable winter weather I can think of, is January and February of 1982. Absolutely brutal! There were 4 weeks that the highs could hardly break above 0*F. Nights could be as low as -40*F. Many of those days had nasty wind chills also. The furnace couldn't keep up, water pipes freezing, septic froze and trouble trying to start the car. That sure was a test for newlyweds.
This year, the nighttime temps are just below freezing and daytime temps above freezing every day. Tomorrow's high looks close to 50*F. I am told that the last time we had a winter like this was 1953. This is sure to be another memorable year.
 

The most memorable winter weather for me was around '94. Mega blizzard shut the state down for three days which would have normally been okay... BUT my daughter had been having a slumber party with her bestie. If you've ever been trapped in a house with two giggling/eating ya outta house & home/getting louder the more antsy they became little girls, you'll know how Mama felt after THAT ordeal! 😨😱🤪🤯🥴🙀
 
It was 1977 and I was building a house. We had it ready to live in by Oct. but there had been a problem with digging the water line. I had a 3 year old, and a 1 year old. We moved into the full basement...all concrete. put a huge 220 heater in it. Cooked in a microwave, and a electric skillet, carried 5 gallon jugs about 100 yards ALL the time. Plus we were way out in the country and it was a cold and snowy winter. I still say THAT is the period of time that drove me crazy! :)
 

1963... trudging to school every day with snow that reached up and over our welly boots...

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Paco Dennis said:
It was 1977 and I was building a house. We had it ready to live in by Oct. but there had been a problem with digging the water line. I had a 3 year old, and a 1 year old. We moved into the full basement...all concrete. put a huge 220 heater in it. Cooked in a microwave, and a electric skillet, carried 5 gallon jugs about 100 yards ALL the time. Plus we were way out in the country and it was a cold and snowy winter. I still say THAT is the period of time that drove me crazy! :)
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Wow. A microwave in '77. Pretty high tech.... and spendy for a young family.
 
Spring of 1965.

My best friend was getting married and she was doing it the night of the Indiana state high school basketball championship game.

Now, that event was notorious for hosting the biggest snowstorm of the year. It was either the greatest meteorological coincidence possible or God hated high school basketball, depending on which side of the fence you sat.

Indiana saved it's best snowstorms for that moment when you'd think, "Ah, winter is over, spring is almost here and I can put the snow shovel back in the shed!" and then BAM!

I thought she was crazy to risk it.

It started snowing late morning, a real blizzard. By 5 p.m.(wedding at 7), it was obvious WE WERE IN BIG TROUBLE.... couldn't get car out of driveway.

I wrapped my bridesmaid dress and shoes in plastic, dressed like an arctic explorer and hoofed it the (thankfully) half-mile to the church.

Mass hysteria at the church. It's getting closer and closer to 7. The cake had been delivered that morning but the flowers were M.I.A., along with the best man (slid off the side of the road), the groom's parents (stuck on the highway) and a large portion of the guests.

At 7:30, the decision was made to proceed with the wedding and just as we were starting to line up, the florist burst in, flinging flowers to everyone, followed by the best man. The groom's parents never got there.

Mother Nature had her knickers in a twist that night.
 
stretch5881 said:
Wow. A microwave in '77. Pretty high tech.... and spendy for a young family.
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I probably are remembering that wrong, but I can't remember how we cooked and warmed up baby bottles and water to wash with. I would have to ask my first wife....she might think that is a fun question...I think I will. I talk with her through my daughter...and it is cool.
 
This might be the most memorable for me. We usually get our first snow and cold snap in October, this year no snow for Christmas, it hadn't really been cold at all. January we had two weeks below -20°C/68°F and only two of those days below -40°C/F. The snow we did get is all gone now, and at 7:30 this morning the temperature is 2°C/35°F. It's rare to see those temperatures till April. Unless something changes drastically for the next two months, this may be the first winter, that wasn't winter. And even if it does get cold and snows now, it's still going to be the shortest ever, unless we have snow and -40°C/F in July.
 

Most memorable winter weather.​


stretch5881 said:
Absolutely brutal! There were 4 weeks that the highs could hardly break above 0*F. Nights could be as low as -40*F. Many of those days had nasty wind chills also.
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Yeah, I gotta say, our first winter, up at our mountain cabin was much like that
Deep deep snow

There's a Jeep under there somewhere;

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Hunkered in a warm cabin;
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Then low low temps
-37F for three solid (ice) days
A slight breeze would cut yer face off

I could walk on the frozen snow pack.....in places

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sometimes going thru the ice/snow to my crotch (nature's little joke)

I was glad to have finished building the main cabin with the wood stove, and had plenty of wood we chopped that summer

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It has been said 'chopped wood will warm you twice'.

It warmed us three times after digging it out that winter

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Hauling water from the well became interesting

Keeping the pump from freezing became a challenge

Yeah, that winter was memorable......to say the least
 
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Last year was in the top 3 for me. We had record snowfall of about 14 ft (as a conservative estimate). Shoveling a foot plus every single week. To go with that, my daughter going in the ditch 3 times.

This winter, so far, has been memorable in a good way. We have had maybe about a foot of snow total with nearly all of it gone now. And very warm temperatures in the 30’s F many days.
 
Gary O' said:
Could be a dry, dangerous summer up there, without a snow pack.
Hope you get some white stuff soon @iksentrik
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@Gary O'
You're in the Rockies, if memory serves, we need you to get snow too. Most of our potable water comes down from the Rockies. Haven't been down to the river in the past few months to see what the level is at, they're already talking about water restrictions for the summer though. Farmers will struggle with no snow pack, they'll need a lot of rain.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I probably are remembering that wrong, but I can't remember how we cooked and warmed up baby bottles and water to wash with. I would have to ask my first wife....she might think that is a fun question...I think I will. I talk with her through my daughter...and it is cool.
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No, you're remembering it right, my grandparents had one as early as 1975. I still remember eating some of the first microwave pizzas in the late 70s/early 80s?
 
Weatherwise, I was raised outside of Buffalo, NY and was only 5 in 1977 , so I have only vague memories of that infamous storm, but I do remember the blizzard of '85, having to shovel the driveway every 2 or 3 hours to prevent being snowed in.
 
I remember some winters, probably back in the late 1960s when the show plowed along the edge of the roads was level with the school bus windows and weeks of below zero (Fahrenheit) temps.

One morning driving to work (can't remember the year, but likely in the 1990s), there was sleet that sounded like marbles hitting the car.

In 1966 and then again in 1969 we had blizzards on Christmas.

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It was a NYE, probably in late 50s. We were at my Grandmother’s/Uncle’s farm. The weather was so bitterly cold that they brought the large batch of piglets born in the afternoon into the house. They were put in crates beside the wood stove. By morning the strongest were running free and wild.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I probably are remembering that wrong, but I can't remember how we cooked and warmed up baby bottles and water to wash with. I would have to ask my first wife....she might think that is a fun question...I think I will. I talk with her through my daughter...and it is cool.
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Likely a Tappan or an Amana Radarange.
 
Seems I did an entire year of winter in 1974 to 1975.
Can't remember ever getting out of my Parka.
Average high for the year was 38 degrees F and we had a couple of days in August,
when we reached 40.

This is understandable, being one of the last Islands on the Aluetian chain.
High winds and cold; 'Grap the rope to get to the next building'.


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