- NYC 1921
1930
Posted on 01/03/2014 2:43:37 PM PST by Kaslin
Actually, this is not only true now... but, AFAIK, has always been so. All you need are winds above 35 mph, sustained for 3 hours or more, and visibility 1/4 mile or less. To get the visibility requirement only takes snow in the air... no accumulation required.
See what happens when you ban God, guns.. and smoking in public. People turn into pansies.
My grandmother was born on the date of the white hurricane AKA The Great Blizzard of 88. March 14, 1888. Fortunately for her and her family she was born in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. But there’s a book on this storm. 20-60 inches of snow. drifts up to 50’ over 400 people died.
I remember going back to the 1950’s people in Queens complaining about favoring Manhattan at the expense of the outer (i.e., other) boroughs when it came to snow removal. I remember the blizzard of 1978, my sister, who lives in Queens, did not have the snow in front of her house removed for two weeks. There was like two feet of snow. It’s hard to bring home groceries by foot.
The snow was a PITA. No blizzard. But to here politicians talk it was a crisis. Cuomo closed the LI Expressway for goodness sake. It was totally uncalled for.
The wusification of America goes on unabated.
Ps I had fun blasting through the berms the plows made with my 4x4.
In Montreal they have a word for that amount of snow- “Spring”.
By having people stay home it reduces the city’s carbon footprint.
I heard about that blizzard from my parents. The difference is, in 1943, there were no snowplows-- the only way to clear the streets was to use shovels, so the Mayor asked everyone to go out and shovel; otherwise, many of the City streets would not have been cleared for weeks. Now that there are City trucks with plows, it is more efficient for people to stay out of the way while the plows clear the streets.
Yes, I read about the blizzard of ‘88 a few years ago and was shocked to find out what a lethal storm it was.
One point that was made in the piece I read was that there was no radio or any weather forecasting, really. So the storm just took people by complete surprise.
The weather in NYC is very variable. I always remember 2 Chirstmases that I know must have been within 3 years of each other because I was dating the same guy. One year it was about 65 degrees and the other it was about 5 degrees. Very unpredictable, esp. in the winter I think.
What LaGuardia said in 1943 was in an era when citizens had RESPECT for the government.
An over night dusting in the Sierra Nevada. When the snow burm in your driveway is 4’ tall - then you have a problem.
1943 was also in an era when governments were respectable.
“The difference is, in 1943, there were no snowplows— the only way to clear the streets was to use shovel”
—
You have got to be kidding.
.
I have seen the photos of the 1943 blizzard, showing armies of city workers shoveling snow off the streets. If snow plows existed, they certainly weren’t in wide use.
They did exist in 1938,and so did I. I remember them well.
NYC apparently didn’t have what they needed for such a severe storm.
.
In the 40’s and very early 50’s a Sanitation Dept Truck full of large shovels would pull up to the corner. A 25cent deposit was charged. You shoveled as long as you liked, for 50cents an hour. Snow was shoveled to the four corners. Large mounds were made, great “forts” to use in snow ball “fights”. When you returned the shovel you received your hourly pat and the deposit. There were supervisors to prevent “cheating”. Today I can imagine every kind of “cheating”. NYC has long lost it’s “neighborhood” concept.(except for the “hood”)
Some of the most effective snowplows I have seen were in small towns - they put a blade on a dump truck, filled it up for weight (usually sand or salt), and put chains on the wheels.
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