2nd worst snowstorm in Detroit history [[19.3") 40 years ago today - December 1, 1974

**GPCharles** · December-01-14, 03:42 PM

The Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.

Willi · December-01-14, 04:48 PM

Definitely had more snow when I was a little kid,
- maybe I was just shorter back then and they piled it up higher :-)

**SMRJim** · December-01-14, 05:48 PM

I remember it well. We ended up with a seven day weekend, getting Mon-Weds off from school. I walked up to the Flipper Inn pinball parlor early Sunday afternoon with a couple of friends in the middle of the storm, it was my freshman year of HS.

**Lowell** · December-01-14, 06:32 PM

Remember it well too. I was playing on the last day of a chess tournament in Birmingham when it started. It just kept piling up wet and heavy. I somehow made it back home to Highland Park. So much so early in winter. It was a freak.

**Ray1936** · December-01-14, 07:19 PM

Remember it well. Was in Las Vegas for the Thanksgiving weekend, ended up stranded in Denver since Metro Airport was shut down. Then finally got home to find what the snowfall did to my aluminum patio awning. House is at 20001 Houghton.

**lpg** · December-01-14, 07:48 PM

Remember it well. We worked 20 hour shifts clearing it. If memory serves me we also had thundersnow. We did a lot of commercial contracts. One of them was a large downriver chemical company. Pushing snow in a large payloader at a dock into the Detroit River at a dark facility with only your headlights and a feel for what the bucket is doing will keep your attention going.

**Bobl** · December-01-14, 08:34 PM

I worked 20 hours, too. Everyone called in. Would have done another four hours, but the plant manager came in, did a double take, said thank you, then ordered me home.

**jcole** · December-01-14, 08:37 PM

My then-fiance and I had driven to Saginaw to cut down a Christmas tree near my sister's house and we were kneeling in mud to do it; by the time we got to Kingston, Mi on M46 , you couldn't see the sides of the road and people were stuck everywhere. Finally made it home to Almont and there wasn't a car moving on the roads; we ending up walking up to the four corners in town and made snow-angels under the traffic light in the middle of M53 and never saw a headlight. Cars were buried for days.

**Kathleen** · December-01-14, 08:45 PM

Mentioned this snowstorm just the other day... I was a senior in high school, and we were on a school trip to Toronto by bus. Left Toronto early afternoon that Sunday, expecting to be home around dinner time. Instead we were stopped by the snow-covered 401 about an hour east of Windsor with no food and no bathroom. Took about 7 hours to make it into downtown Windsor, where we stopped at a Tim Horton's for donuts and milk [[given to us by the proprietor) before ending up at the bus driver's house for the night. Picked up the next morning by my cousin who lives in Windsor. Reunited with my parents later in the day. No school until Thursday. Spent much of our days off, digging out and enjoying the snow over at Balduck Park.

**gazhekwe** · December-01-14, 09:20 PM

that was a big storm. My 73 Dodge Colt made it through everything. It's where I developed the snow driving strategy of never drive into anything so hard you can't back out. Neighbors across the street were having a big party and somebody was too drunk to get going, spun and spun and spun til they were axle deep. About ten guys finally heaved him out of the pits he made, and he promptly backed right back in. The ten stood back and I could just about feel those ten killer looks clear across the street. Out came the driver, in went another strong guy and out came the car, which was then maneuvered down the street away from danger. I believe it stuck on the corner and was finally piloted out onto Grand River by someone other than the original driver.

**Dumpling** · December-01-14, 09:56 PM

There was one snowstorm around that time - not sure if this snowstorm was it - in which the weather forecast was for "scattered flurries" with a predicted total accumulation of maybe three inches. After watching the snow come down for awhile I went out and shoveled the front
sidewalk of the three inches. Repeated the shoveling a couple of hours later...and a couple of hours after that, and the snow just kept on coming down until it was quite deep.
The snow predictions ARE better these days I think! Glad I didn't have to go anywhere in
that snow. I think people were caught off guard by that underestimate.

**mtburb** · December-01-14, 10:12 PM

I have a question to everyone who replied in here:

Did you go through this at all exactly 40 years ago?

**Dumpling** · December-01-14, 10:39 PM

At my place we were never "snowed in". We traipsed outside and inside a lot, getting
our winter clothes snowy wet. Our clothes would be hung to dry on clotheslines
next to my Dad's 55 gallon drum wood furnace in the basement.

**TheUsualSuspect** · December-02-14, 09:00 AM

I was 13 years old. Our family had driven to Cleveland to have thanksgiving dinner with another branch of the family.

We were on our way home and had made it as far as Monroe, when I-75 became undrivable. We pulled over along with about 300 other drivers and were given shelter in a roadside hotel [[which had sold out for the night).

Had a meal at the restaurant and snuggled up on a blanket in a hallway for the night. It's actually one of my favorite childhood adventure memories.

**GPCharles** · December-02-14, 09:15 AM

Drove back to Ann Arbor from the eastside with two friends. Took 4 hours, but we made it. That Monday was the 1st day in history that U of Michigan cancelled classes.

**jackie5275** · December-02-14, 10:01 AM

I was a kid. We were on our back from my grandparents' house near Cheboygen where we spent Thanksgiving. We left around 10 am in the morning expecting to be home by mid afternoon. Well guess again. As we got to Zilwaukee, I-75 was bumper to bumper. It stayed that way the rest of our commute back to Pontiac. We knew it was really serious when my dad, who never missed work, called in the next day.

I think back then a snow blower was more of a luxury item. Most people didn't have one. I know we didn't, and it took my dad the whole next day to dig out just the driveway.

**TheUsualSuspect** · December-02-14, 10:56 AM

Its interesting. There are a whole lot of "I remember where I was when I heard" type events.

The Kennedy assassination, the space shuttle disaster, 9/11... This snowstorm, perhaps because of it's connection to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, seems to have struck a resounding chord.

**IrishSpartan** · December-02-14, 12:06 PM

On Thanksgiving [[November 28) the Lions played their final game at Tiger Stadium and lost to the Denver Broncos.

What a fluke snow storm. The February 1965 storm closed schools, but that 1974 storm seemed to make all the previous storms pale in comparison. I wonder how many people parking along Detroit side streets ended up with their vehicles getting sideswiped? A lot of people did not or could not park in driveways[[if available)back then because of the larger cars.

**Django** · December-02-14, 06:55 PM

I barely remember this. I was in my second year of first grade. My mom was worried about food supplies and was getting ready to use my sled to drag to the store to stock up. I had left my sled somewhere in the front yard and it was buried in snow nowhere to be found. I was yelled at but it all worked out. Anyone remember the name of that popular sled made of steel and wood, lay on your belly and steer it with the wood handles?
I do love the "where were you" moments. I was not even born for the Kennedy assassination. I have vivid memories of Elvis dying, John lennon, and Kurt Cobain as well. The Space Shuttle, Reagan attempt, and 9-11.

**nain rouge** · December-02-14, 07:37 PM

It always cracks me up how people in the big city stock up on goods before a storm like they won't be able to shop for a week. Most of the time, the stores don't even close. You'd think Detroiters live way up in the Rocky Mountains in some forgotten town. They'll buy all the water jugs like the pipes are going to stop working. It's so dumb.

**Zacha341** · December-02-14, 08:09 PM

I was an early teen and recall this. Locked in for days on end it seemed. Snow up to the storm door. Just hunkered down. Parents worrying if we had enough food. Schools were closed for some time.

**old guy** · December-03-14, 02:51 AM

What or when was the worst snow storm in the city?

**Zacha341** · December-03-14, 05:56 AM

Umm, last year did see a high number of pipes bursting. My kitchen pipes froze and had to be replaced after having never frozen, and yes I always keep some water reserves.

Originally Posted by nain rouge

They'll buy all the water jugs like the pipes are going to stop working. It's so dumb.

**Jimaz** · December-03-14, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by old guy

What or when was the worst snow storm in the city?

It looks like it was April 6, 1886, 24.5 inches: Top 10 heaviest snow storms to hit Detroit

Hmm. I remember it deeper than that in the 70s, like waist- or chest-high. That must have accumulated from multiple storms.

**Jimaz** · December-03-14, 10:41 AM

I just remembered a comical situation from the winter of '66/'67. There was a thick layer of ice on top of deep snow. It was barely strong enough to hold my weight. So half the time I would take a step on top of the ice and the other half I'd punch through into thigh-high snow. It was totally unpredictable and nearly impossible to walk.

The snow gods must have been laughing.