Area’s worst blizzard hit 45 years ago

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Updated: January 26, 2012 4:44PM

You thought last week’s snow was bad? Compared to the snow that paralyzed the city 45 years ago Thursday and Friday, it was nothing.

On January 26 and 27, 1967, Chicago endured its worst snowstorm ever. The snow started at 5:02 a.m. on the 26th, and by 10:10 a.m. on the 27th a record 23 inches of snow crippled the city, according to the National Weather Service. During the storm winds gusted to 53 mph at Midway Airport. The high winds caused considerable blowing and drifting, and drifts 4 to 6 feet high were widespread throughout the area, the weather service says.

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 was reported at Meigs Field. Snow tapered off by evening but intensified again overnight.

Two days before the blizzard, on January 24, the high temperature was 65 degrees and the low was 44, both records that still stand today, according to the weather service. Thunderstorms occurred in the evening of the 24th. There were reports of wind damage, and funnel clouds were spotted in the southwest section of the city. The wind gusted to 48 mph at Midway. The wall of a building under construction at 87th and Stony Island toppled, killing one man and injuring four others.

Snow began on Thursday morning, January 26, but most people made it to work and school without much trouble, the weather service said. But by noon about 8 inches was already on the ground and O’Hare Airport was shut down. Some businesses and schools released employees and students early. The commute home, even for those who started early, was a nightmare. Many workers did not get home, or arrived very late. Many stayed at work or in hotels.

By Friday morning the city was at a standstill. The airports and local transportation were shut down. In the city of Chicago 20,000 cars and 1,100 CTA buses were stranded in the snow. People walked to stores to clear the shelves of bread and milk. Helicopters were used to deliver medical supplies to hospitals, and food and blankets to stranded motorists. Expectant mothers were taken to hospitals by sled, bulldozer and snow plow. At least a dozen babies were born at home. Looting became a problem on the West and Near South sides of the city.

By Saturday the 28th, Chicago was beginning to dig itself out. Commuter trains were running and CTA buses were operating most lines. The city sent a workforce of 2,500 people with 500 pieces of equipment out to clear the streets. Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan sent heavy equipment to help with the snow removal. But the thousands of abandoned vehicles hampered the clean up. Snow was hauled by dump truck to the Chicago River. O’Hare finally opened around midnight Monday, allowing people who had been stranded for days to finally get home. Most schools didn’t reopen until Tuesday. By then most transportation was back to normal.

By the time it was over, the weather service says, 60 people were dead and there was an estimated $150 million in business losses. The 1967 snowstorm, according to the National Weather Serrvice, probably caused the biggest disruption to the commerce and transportation of Chicago of any event since the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.