Major Snowfall Triggers Memories of Historic Blizzard of '78

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On Sunday night, Governor Ned Lamont announced that due to the severe winter storm that is anticipated to impact Connecticut and out of an abundance of caution, he has signed an order implementing a travel ban on certain tractor trailers, effective 5:00 am on Monday, until further notice.  It bans all empty and tandem tractor trailers from traveling on Interstates 84, 91, and 95, and all tractor trailers from traveling on Interstate 84.

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The order is being done in collaboration with neighboring states that are implementing similar travel restrictions during the storm and excludes those providing emergency supplies necessary for response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccines, testing supplies, and medications.

The order – and the predictions of possible blizzard conditions – bring to mind an unforgettable February snowfall in the state just over four decades ago this month. 

The Blizzard of ’78 is legendary not only in the amount and intensity of the snow and wind, but in other impacts as well, including coastal high tides and damage to homes and property, and even politics – it is seen as central to the re-election later that year of Governor Ella Grasso.

Back in 2011, Connecticut Public Television aired a documentary about the Blizzard of ’78, which included these statistics not soon forgotten by those in the state at the time:

  • 30 inches of snow

  • 70 mile per hour winds

  • 5,000 people stranded

  • 16 foot snowdrifts

  • Air and rail traffic were shut down amidst 3 days of snow

  • Snowfall as high as 4 inches per hour

  • 1,200 cars towed from state highways and thousands stuck on secondary roads

A retrospective published years later in The Hartford Courant added these statistics:

  • More than $25 million in damage

  • A contingent of 547 soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas, flew to Connecticut to help National Guard crews with snow removal and clean up

  • Mail delivery ceased for the first time in 40 years

  • Gov. Grasso shut down the state for three days, and President Carter  declared Connecticut, Rhode Island and  Massachusetts federal disaster areas.

It was a storm for the ages, the likes of which Connecticut has not seen since.  Will 2021 come close?



NBC News was among the national news organizations reporting on the impact across New England in February, 1978.  (See the recap about Connecticut beginning at 6:06 of the video, featuring John Chancellor and Robert Hager.)