“The Snow was as High as the Telephone Poles”

Submitted by: Steven A., Buffalo, NY

I was just a little kid during the Blizzard of ’77, maybe 10 or 11 years old — maybe even younger. I don’t remember exactly. But I’ll tell you this: when that blizzard hit, it was bad. Really bad.

The snow was as high as the telephone poles.

Back then, in the Buffalo suburbs, nobody had snowblowers big enough to handle something like that. There were walls and walls of snow everywhere, and they stayed there for weeks.

We had a really long driveway at the time, and I remember it taking my father two or three days after work just to dig it out. It felt like the snow would never end.

I was young, but I remember us starting to run low on supplies. Everything just felt overwhelming.

In 1976, I had joined the Marine Corps Reserve, and during the blizzard I came home on leave. At one point, I got stuck at the Buffalo Armory for so long that I honestly don’t even remember if I ever made it home before things shut down again.

It was a horrible experience — but one I’ll never forget.

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