Ohio Blizzard Of 1978 Essay

During the Ohio Blizzard of 1978, many people were trapped in their homes and without power. The several feet of snow absorbed all cars and some smaller homes. Extreme fog and freezing fog made it difficult for drivers to see. The high wind speeds blew down poles and trees. Three causes of the Ohio Blizzard of 1978 were wind speeds, up to 25 feet of snow, and fog. One of the main causes of the Ohio Blizzard was the high wind speeds. The wind speeds averaged around 40 to 50 mph. Some wind speeds reached up to 82 mph in the Cleveland area. With the great gusts of wind, the gusts reached well over 90 mph at times. “ Wind gusts topped 50 mph, and sub zero wind chill temperatures” (Reindl). When the gusts reached those high speeds, they blew the

When the wind speeds averaged around 40 mph, that caused the temperature to be well below zero. The wind speeds brought temperatures so low that it was unsafe to go outside. According to Dick Goddard, the wind chill made temperatures go as low as -61 degrees Fahrenheit. If a person were to walk outside in such temperature, it could cause almost immediate frostbite or even hypothermia. The high wind speeds caused many damages to properties throughout Ohio. The high wind speeds themselves knocked down many trees. With the extreme gusts of wind, they blew out windows in homes and even some business buildings. Some cars were even flipped while driving because of the insane wind speeds. This caused many injuries and some deaths throughout the state of Ohio. The wind speeds also blew down many power lines, which later caused power outages. Millions of people were left without power for weeks during the blizzard. Over a quarter of the deaths during the Ohio Blizzard were from people freezing to death because they were without power. With the power being out for this amount of time, the Ohio Turnpike was shut down for over a

Many people had their cars trapped under the large mountains of snow. “The temperature was in the 40s the day before, and then, just like that, vehicles were stranded in the snowdrifts 15 feet deep” (“Blizzard of 1978”). This caused the fuel to freeze and made cars unable to start. Once a car is stranded in snow, it is unable to move. All cars that were stranded in snow were either horribly damaged, or completely ruined. Thirteen of the deaths in the Ohio Blizzard were from people being stranded in their cars or small homes with no power or heat (“1978 Ohio Statewide Blizzard”). There were millions of people who were left without power for many weeks during the Ohio Blizzard. The third and final cause of the Ohio Blizzard was the fog. When the snow melted, the cold air blew over that or other bodies of water and made fog. The snow also fell onto the water or puddles and made fog. The fog covered the ground to the extent that people couldn't see anything. Some of the fog even froze and made it even more cold outside. There was an extreme amount of fog that made sight almost impossible for every person outside (“Looking Back on the blizzard of