- More Photo Album Memories –

“A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations,

But look what they can do when they stick together!"

Author Unknown

Oh, how it snowed

That day in Chicago

Twenty-three inches

Of thick, wet snow

The date was January 26^th

In the infamous year of 1967

When I awoke that morning

I thought that I was in Heaven

But I jumped on the bus anyway

And when I reached my destination

I discovered that my school was closed

And all vehicles had come to a cessation

I didn’t think this snowstorm heavenly

When I walked 6 hours in that snow

Just to get back to our warm old house

That January 26, 1967, in old Chicago

The city of my birth was now paralyzed

I spent a week digging out neighbors’ cars

Six-foot snowdrifts were a common sight

And my own car, vanished in our backyard

Oh, how it snowed

That day in Chicago;

Twenty-three inches

Of thick, wet snow

After unseasonably warm temperatures, snow started falling at 5:02 a.m. Thursday January 26^th and it continued to fall through Friday morning, January 27^th for a total accumulation of 23 inches, with blowing winds and massive snow drifts to 6 feet.

Extremely cold weather and additional periodic snowfalls over the next 10 days created even more havoc.  Although commuter trains continued to run - cars, buses, and planes couldn’t.  Almost all schools, offices, and other work places were shut down for at least a week.  And commuters unable to reach their homes spent several nights camped out in downtown hotels, at O'Hare International Airport, and in their stranded vehicles.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation, which is responsible for plowing streets, estimated that at least 75 million tons of snow fell on Chicago over this two day period.  Some of it was even sent south in empty railcars, as a gift to Florida children who had never seen snow before.

Over 60 deaths were attributed to this massive storm--mostly heart attacks from shoveling snow.  And a few of them were dear old neighbors of ours.

 And 273 looters were arrested.  One young girl was tragically killed while police were shooting at these looters.

January 26, 1967 – a date I will never forget.