On February 6th and 7th, 1978, a powerful storm formed off the EasternSeaboard. The storm was fueled by a very large temperature gradient thatexisted between cold air over the continent and mild air over the Gulf Stream.Late on the 6th and early on the 7th, the storm made a complete loop south ofLong Island, which prolonged the snowfall. At the storm's height, snow fell at4 or 5 inches per hour, and thunder was heard. Over the ocean, hurricane-forcewinds piled waves over 40 feet high which in turn crashed into the New Englandcoast. The storm caused 75 deaths and $500 million in damage.
This storm was just a small part of a siege of extreme winter weather thatlasted over a period of three seasons (1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79). Ironically,the talk back then was of global cooling, not global warming. Just food forthought.
Story By AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews.
