| Blizzard of 1978 |
| Brockton, MA February 6, 1978 It was Monday morning, my friend and co-worker Bob, and I were on our way to work. Each day we travelled from Brockton to Waltham (Massachusetts) via routes 24 and 128. In Needham, we would leave the expressway and snake our way via the back streets to the Raytheon Company parking lots in the Waltham complex. It was a dreary sort of a morning and the weather reports were predicting snow to begin falling before noon. We arrived safely without incident. Later that morning the weather began to turn ugly and a severe snowstorm warning was issued. By afternoon, the severity of the storm was cause for alarm and some employees were allowed to leave work and head for home. I don't recall as to whether Bob and I left early or waited for the end of the work shift. When we finally did leave, the snow had already blanketed the ground with several inches and it was obvious that we were in for a very difficult trip in making it home to Brockton. We managed to retrace our earlier passage through the back roads of Needham to reach route 128. Once on route 128, we found that the highway was already layered with several inches of snow and very slippery. Traffic on the highway was moving at a snail's pace and a number of automobiles were already experiencing trouble with traction. Many were unable to maintain forward momentum and others had already been immobilized from the falling and drifting snow along the highway. To add to an already frightening stuation, the blowing and drifting snow limited the forward visibility to only a few yards ahead of the car. In addition to the swirling and drifting snow, there was the sounds of thunder and flashes of lightning illuminating the sky. Somehow, Bob's small car kept moving forward through the snow. He maneuvered by one stalled car after another without losing momentum. We passed countless numbers of automobiles that were hopelessly bogged down in the rising and drifting snow. We successfully traversed Rte 128 to Rte 24 and all the way to Brockton and home. To this day, neither Bob nor I can explain why we were so fortunate as to have navigated our way through the back roads of Needham, along Rte's 128 and 24 and through the snow clogged streets of Brockton to reach home safely. The full impact of the storm and our success in reaching home was not fully realized until the following day. Television news coverage of the Blizzard revealed the plight of hundreds of motorist that were stranded along the highway of Rte 128, the path that we followed, and the ensuing deaths which resulted from the storm. It was called the worse Blizzard of the Century*. New England had recorded 54 deaths with 29 of the deaths happening in Massachusetts. The storm had lasted approximately 33 hours and dropped approximately 27 inches of snow. |
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| Last updated 5/12/02 |
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