1976: A real winter
Some of us may think the past three months are what real winters are all about, especially after the run of mild winters we have experienced over the past decade.
There is little doubt that winters aren’t what they used to be. We did have plenty of snow and cold weather and it may surprise some to know that our low temperature for the three months was two degrees for February followed by eight degrees for January and 12 degrees for December.
In looking over the surrounding temperatures for Southwestern Pennsylvania I did find a reading of minus-one for Waynesburg. No below-zero weather was recorded at any of the other stations from Pittsburgh to Morgantown. A normal winter will see at least four days of below zero weather and in the mountains we usually have at least eight below zero readings.
Over the three months temperatures averaged just one degree below normal. Snowfall varied over our regions with winter totals of 35 to 45 inches with mountain areas getting well over 50 inches.
Average snowfall in Uniontown is 40 inches and 88 inches in our mountains just east of the city. While the cold and snow were not too far off the averages the persistent and the almost continuous cloudy days did not permit a lot of melting and kept temperatures near the freezing mark.
Following a series of generally mild winters beginning in 1971 the extremely cold winter of 1976-77 came as a rude shock to most people.
I remember it well.
Fuel shortages quickly followed the cold air much the same as just what happened in Texas and the Deep-South last month. We also were not prepared as local rivers and streams froze, making transportation difficult. Commerce and the economy were crippled as almost nothing was moving due to the extreme cold and large snowfalls.
Snow drifts were enormous and never ceasing winds quickly closed newly plowed roads. The National Guard had to be called out to help open roads and bring in deliveries of fuel. Many mountain roads were impassable for weeks. All major rivers in Southwestern Pennsylvania remained frozen over for weeks as the intense cold settled in for a long stay.
The average temperature for January 1977 was 12 degrees and was six degrees colder than the all-time previous low. Our average January temperature is 29 degrees.
The cold was so intense that we experienced below-zero temperatures for 50 hours from 10 a.m. on the 16th to 12 p.m. on the 18th. During this period the lowest was 17 degrees below zero. We also saw a reading of minus-15 on the 14th along with minus-nine on both the 17th and 18th and minus-five on the 30th.
The National Weather Service blamed the intense cold on a visit from the Polar Vortex which allowed the Jet Stream to deliver a mound of very cold Arctic air to Southwestern Pennsylvanian much the same as the air that visited Texas and the South last month.
The air that visited us also travelled far into the south and for the first time ever Miami, Florida reported snow, and a few flakes were even observed in the Bahamas.
The following year the winter of 78 produced the White Hurricane with more cold, snow and record-breaking temperatures. Certainly the talk in those days was not about global warming.
Speaking of warming, it might please some to know that this week should see temperatures in the 40s and 50s and a continuing observance of sunshine in our skies.