posted on Dec, 8 2011 @ 06:58 AM
I remember snows in the past, but I also think some more childhood memories are selective memories, of all of the snowy winter fun, and not of the
milder times, when it was just cold and wet and sloppy. But I can be sure of a few selective memories that I have not seen since, I'll point out 4
such.
Mid 60's, we had a nice relatively mild 3 foot snow, I say mild because us kid could play all day in it, and have dug networks of tunnels in
someone's yard complete with lodging rooms. I believe the depth lasted a couple weeks.
76-77-78 blizzards. Not snow as deep but substantial. The 76-77 was not elevated to blizzard status but in late November through December the
temperature never registered above zero F, consecutively for over a mouth of days.
The real blizzard hit in the 77-78 winter and brought very cold temps, nice deep snow. You would not last walking more than 3 blocks with any exposed
skin, it was the only time I felt my eyeballs cold. Those were two tough winters in a row for a starving kid to begin college life, though it didn't
seem too far from a little worse than normal.
Strange that those two blizzard years followed a winter in my senior high school year were we had a 70ºF stretch of February, skipping school and
throwing frisbee, basically already selected a college acceptance. The summer leading up to that was the most sweltering hot humid June I can
remember, you couldn't sit still outside without profusely sweating.
83-84 Arctic freeze, we could barely raise the temps inside to avoid water pipes freezing, and January 82 saw the coldest windchill NFL football game
played in Cincinnati Ohio, reaching -59ºF windchill. I also remember in the mid 80s San Diego was colder than Pittsburgh during the NFL playoffs. I
spent the 97 New Years in Naples Florida when a cold blast (for Floridians) made it colder for a few days than it was when I left and returned to
Columbus Ohio (unseasonably warm). Been through minor droughts and 100º+ August's, mid late 80's.
Saw 70º Christmases and deep snowy Easters before, Pitt/Cols, 40º Junes and 70º Febs, and just 3 winters ago in late march we got a 3-foot+
snowfall in about a day, that lasted just a couple weeks.
You stick around long enough you'll see it all eventually, local weather is effected by a myriad of natural cycles.
I'm just glad I wasn't around for the 30's Dust Bowl, and the WWII Arctic deep freeze blasts, talk about making hard times worse...