Never Forget: The 59th Anniversary of the Great ’67 Chicago Blizzard

The Anniversary of the Great ’67 Chicago Blizzard:
This year’s weather pattern looks really bad! But flashing back to 1967. . .Wow!! Forecast called for flurries!. . .NOT! It has been fifty-nine years since the “Great 1967 Blizzard! On January 26^th and 27^th in 1967, Chicago, Illinois witnessed the most horrific and distressing blizzard in the recorded history of the city. I personally was almost too young, but this event is my first memory in life due to the traumatic nature of a blizzard. I remember the lightning snowstorm on the way back with my mother looking for my brother to return from school only 2 blocks away. . .what a disaster! Here are some highlights:

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via Jeff Geisler_Cicero IL_25th Street and 50th Ave_cropped.jpg

Photo From Cicero Image curtesy National Weather Service

The forecast–only flurries! Except one meteorologist that went out on a whim–John Coleman, who called for the all the fury of the storm that lied ahead those two days. John went on after several years forecasting on our local ABC owned station in Chicago (* =more info on John Coleman below). The largest problem was that with only a forecast like that, most people ventured off to work, to school, and most anywhere that a normal business day encounters. Then the snow started, and kept coming with. . .more, and more, then a lull and then even more! It just wouldn’t stop. The snow started at 5:02 a.m. on the 26^th, and by 10:10 a.m. of the 27^th, just 28 hours later, a record 23 inches of snow crippled the city. The heaviest snow fell in the morning and early afternoon of the 26th with the maximum rate of accumulation 2 inches per hour during the late morning. A thunderstorm-snow was even reported at Meigs Field (airport). My first memory in life was of this event, with that lightning being so memorable. Snow tapered off by evening but intensified again overnight. Cars, trucks, tow trucks and even semi-trailers were stranded for days and weeks! Drifts 4 to 6 feet high were widespread throughout the whole area. Airports came to a grinding halt and didn’t open for four full days, until that Sunday. Helicopters lifted people who needed ambulance rides to hospitals, and record births at home occurred in the blizzard. The states of Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan sent equipment to help assist in the cleanup of the storm. The City of Chicago dumped millions of tons of snow into the Chicago River because there just was absolutely no other choice. Just two days before the blizzard, on January 24^th, the high temperature topped at 65 degrees with a low was 44, both records of which still stand to today. Thunderstorms occurred in the evening of the 24^th. You never can tell what weather a Chicago week will bring based on what is going on today, then–and now! By the time it was over, there were 60 casualties and there was an estimated $150 million in business losses (about $904 million in 2006 dollars). The 1967 snowstorm still stands as the most probable biggest disruption to the commerce and transportation of Chicago of any event since the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. You can always get #Live and the most current technical information as provided by National Weather Service.

Video on YouTube:

Video: Courtesy of @ChicagoFD1 on YouTube – The Great 1967 Chicago Blizzard

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Maps of the Great Chicago Blizzard of ’67:

01/26/67 – 12:00 Midnight
CLICK photo to enlarge
Courtesy National Weather Service

01/27/67 – 12:00 Midnight
CLICK photo to enlarge
Courtesy National Weather Service

01/28//67 – 12:00 Midnight
CLICK photo to enlarge
Curtesy National Weather Service

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Statistics of the Great Chicago Blizzard of ’67:

01/26/67 – 12:00 Midnight
CLICK photo to enlarge
Curtesy National Weather Service

01/27/67 – 12:00 Midnight
CLICK photo to enlarge
Curtesy National Weather Service

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Photos of the Great Chicago Blizzard of ’67:

CLICK photos to enlarge

Photo From Chicago Image curtesy National Weather Service

Photo From Forest Park Image curtesy National Weather Service

Photo From Homewood Image curtesy National Weather Service

Photo From Chicago Image curtesy National Weather Service

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Who was John Coleman?

* John Coleman was the inventor of The Weather Channel and was a successful veteran forecaster at ABC owner Chicago Channel 7, and also was the only forecaster to get the blizzard of 1967 correct by going out on a whim–calling for the blizzard, when a lot of other forecasts called for flurries– with the limited means of forecasting tools that were available in those times.
–Excerpt From Versatileer’s post: National Weather Forecaster Day – 2025