On the morning of Monday, Feb. 6, 1978, snow began falling in Rhode Island and didn’t stop until the following night. Residents woke up on Wednesday to find as many as thirty-eight inches had fallen, by official counts (though some residents reported more than four feet in the northern areas of the state). Cars were abandoned, hospital waiting rooms became shelters, and on Providence’s College Hill, Angell Street was turned into a ski jump. At the State House, Governor J. Joseph Garrahy hunkered down with his staff at the Civil Defense headquarters, eschewing the traditional suit and tie in favor of a red flannel shirt. For several days, he appeared on television broadcasts wearing…..