Snowww Noooooo!!

Much of the country has been affected by weather in one form or another this week. The Midwest and more specifically the Chicago area was hit by a monstrous blizzard. The history of major snow storms has become in recent decades, very political. While snowfall records in Chicago date back to 1884, five of the largest snowfalls in the area have occurred since 1930.

The 19.2 inch snowfall of March 1930 saw the advent of horizontal curved blades mounted on trucks to push snow to one side of the street or another.

The greatest snowfall recorded in the Chicago area since the beginning of snowfall records in 1884 remains the “Blizzard of 1967” This snow storm paralyzed the city for several days. Looting was rampant, and many school children were camped out in the libraries and gymnasiums of their schools until their school busses could make the trip. Mayor Richard J Daley pleaded with private corporations to donate their snow removal equipment.

The “Blizzard of 1979” proved to be the undoing of a mayoral candidate. Mayor Michael Bilandic was the incumbent looking to be re elected to office that winter. The 18.8 inches of snow that fell on January 13th of 1979 came on top of a 9 inch snowfall earlier in the month. The lack of snow removal and Bilandic’s failure to communicate accurate information to beleaguered Chicagoans infuriated the citizens. Mayoral candidate Jane Byrne took this opportunity and won the election that year to become the city’s first female mayor.

The 21 inches that fell on the city over New Years in 1999 remains the second largest snowfall to hit the Chicago area. Coming in at a close number three is the snowstorm of this week, to be forever known as the Blizzard of 2011. While at 20.2 inches, it does not rate as the biggest, but the repercussions of the 70 mile per hour winds, and the finger pointing for the mess on Lake Shore Drive with hundreds of cars being stranded during the height of the storm, continues to play out for the political history books.

It has been a difficult week for Chicagoans. However, you can always count on them to band together and help each other out with their snow removal —despite the actions of the Dept. of Streets and Sanitation. Spring is only a month and a half away!