DAYTON, Ohio ( WDTN ) — On Thursday, Jan. 26, 1978, the Blizzard of 1978 left behind feet of snow across the entire Miami Valley.
Dubbed the “Storm of the Century,” the Blizzard of ’78 dumped 12.2 inches of snow on the Dayton area. At the end of Jan. 1978, the Miami Valley recorded 40.2 inches of snow.
For a majority of the day, visibility reached almost zero. Throughout the day, winds gusted between 50 and 70 mph, causing wind chills to dip well below 0 degrees.
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Residents that were able to dig their vehicles out of the snow and onto the road were unable to drive on I-75. After the snow fell, I-75 was closed for three days. The National Weather Service in Wilmington (NWS) reports nearly all schools were closed for instruction on Jan. 26, 1978.
** Original archive video shown below **
A photograph from the Special Collections and Archives at Wright State University, on right, shows vehicles covered to their tops from large snowdrifts outside of Skyline Restaurant in Vandalia. Some semi-trucks were also buried in parts of the area.