Whenever a severe snowstorm is predicted for Rhode Island, conversation inevitably turns to the Blizzard of ’78.
The storm packed winds of 67 miles per hour. More than 50 people in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts died. Houses and business were destroyed. Hundreds of motorists were stranded on Rhode Island roads, trapped by accumulations measured in feet — more than 3 feet in northern parts of the state. Drifts more than five times that high were reported. Weeks would pass before normalcy was restored…