Ice Storm of 79

[stasu1213]

Does anyone remember the April Ice Storm of 1979?

[Zacha341]

In my teen years, but GOODNESS YES! Lights out everywhere. Porches and roads slippery. Hope we don't have another here in Detroit! It's already icing over in some suburbs.

[Ray1936]

Yeah, I remember it because of one dumb thing I did. Since the power was out and we had a gas range, friend wife figured she'd cook for us and the neighbors. A short time later she told me to go next door and ask Joan for some kind of pot. I returned after a few minutes and told her no one was home. "They are, too! I just talked to her on the phone". To which I started to respond, "Well, I rang the doorbell and no one answere......uh.......oh, yeah.........dah......."

[Zacha341]

Time to charge up mobile phone. Yeah you figure out fast how much requires electricity! About to charge an old tablet too I have in case lights go out. Getting out the old trusty candles and matches too!

[ABetterDetroit]

I always heard that the ice storm of ‘76 was the bad one. Was ‘79 worse here?

[Hamtragedy]

The ice-storm of 79 was massive. I was in 6th grade at Vetal Middle School near Brightmoor. It was on a Sunday night the week after Easter vacation for all Detroit Public Schools. We watched from our windows, but in particular, my sister's rear window facing east at our house in Grandmont. The sky lit up orange, green and blue all night long from all of the downed wires. It was like a lightning storm that continued all night, but instead of thunder, all you could here was explosions and that constant loud buzz from all the grounded wires. It was pretty intense. And really eff-in cool.

Needless to say, Detroit Public Schools all were closed for an additional week because of the storm. We had two solid weeks off from school, including Easter break. Good times. Good times.

[Hermod]

Needless to say, Detroit Public Schools all were closed for an additional week because of the storm. We had two solid weeks off from school, including Easter break. Good times. Good times.

I went to Detroit public schools from 1944-1954. I do not remember us having a single day off because of the weather. When we moved to Rochester, it was a couple of times a year.

[Jimaz]

That must have been the time I discovered my wipers stuck to the windshield under a super-thick layer of solid ice. It was almost impossible to chip away. Ever since then I always lift the wipers away from the windshield before a big ice storm.

I also spun out in a VW Beetle while moving as slowly as possible. It just did a slow, comical pirouette in the middle of the road. No one else was foolish enough to drive in those conditions so no damage was done.

[Hamtragedy]

I went to Detroit public schools from 1944-1954. I do not remember us having a single day off because of the weather. When we moved to Rochester, it was a couple of times a year.

We didn't get many in the 70s and 80s either. Save for a blizzard or sub minus 5. One day I got to the Grand River bus stop having walked from Schoolcraft only to be told by the driver they just cancelled school. The bank next to the Norwest Theater had a sign that was -10.

Remember also that all the Public Schools were under the authority of Detroit Power and Lighting, not Edison. Massive power outages all over the city I'm sure contributed to everything being closed for that extra week.

[clubboss]

While power is on at my place, the outage map is lit up:

[313WX]

While power is on at my place, the outage map is lit up:

Looks like most of NW Detroit and the western suburbs are without power.

[Jimaz]

While power is on at my place, the outage map is lit up:

That needs a linky: DTE Outage Map

[mtburb]

While power is on at my place, the outage map is lit up:

Another reason that I'm glad I live in Wyandotte which, as you know, has their own power utility independent of DTE. I've had power all this time for this reason.

[catch22]

I always heard that the ice storm of ‘76 was the bad one. Was ‘79 worse here?

1976 was the worst in my memory. I was a telephone installer then, working in NW Detroit and Redford. They sent a bunch of us to Oakland and Macomb Counties for several days, working 14 hour shifts rehanging phone cable and service wires once Detroit Edison was done in an area [[joint use poles, they got to fix the dangerous stuff first). I've never seen so many downed trees before or since.

[zedsded]

Needless to say, Detroit Public Schools all were closed for an additional week because of the storm. We had two solid weeks off from school, including Easter break. Good times. Good times.

I was Googling to find info about this storm because I remember it being a really big deal and came upon this thread. I knew it was the spring of '79 because I was in 3rd grade at Edison Elementary. I also remember being out of school for a week. But it seems the '76 storm is all that Google remembers.

I also remember it very well because I broke my leg. I was ice skating on the sidewalk with friends.

[Zacha341]

^^^ Welcome to Detroityes Zedsded!

[Hamtragedy]

I was Googling to find info about this storm because I remember it being a really big deal and came upon this thread. I knew it was the spring of '79 because I was in 3rd grade at Edison Elementary. I also remember being out of school for a week. But it seems the '76 storm is all that Google remembers.

I also remember it very well because I broke my leg. I was ice skating on the sidewalk with friends.

Edison grad myself. My sister had Mr. Pringle that year for fifth grade and my little brother was in Ms. Blomquist's second grade class. If you grew up south of Grand River from the freeway to about Rutherford all the way to Schoolcraft, there's a good chance I delivered a newspaper to your house at some point, as a couple of us used to do the open routes. If you lived on Archdale, Longacre or Rutland, then there's probably an even better chance I know who you or your older siblings are [[should you have any).

[EastsideAl]

The '76 ice storm destroyed the huge birch tree in our yard. It just made a series of loud cracks, and essentially split in half. I remember the loud hum and weird glow of the many power lines down in the surrounding blocks. One near our corner landed on a parked car and made a bunch of huge flashes, leaving the car with a big blistered black spot. I was in East Lansing during the '79 storm, which turned the campus into this glassy, shiny wonderland. But my folks in Detroit were without power for a couple days and the falling ice messed up our eaves and porch.

[Lowell]

Ah, nothing like an inch of snow on April 17th! We must be getting close to record territory for coldest April, latest snow etc.

We seem to be free of mega-disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis here. But I always thought a December ice storm with a two inch coating, two days of high winds and then another two inches of ice with no thaw for two months could come close.

[MikeM]

From the Detroit office of the National Weather Service...

[mtburb]

I remember back in 2016 when I drove up to the Detroit Zoo during the middle of May and it was snowing off-and-on. There was no accumulation that I remember, however.

[Former_Detroiter]

I remember it very well. I was living in an apartment building in West Village. Just about everyone in the building was single. Since we were iced in everybody left their apartment doors open and it was Party Central. We turned the lobby, which was huge, into a game room. That's where I learned to play chess and have been playing ever since. We also played Group Encounter, a favorite 70's game, and a marathon Monopoly game. I'm not sure how long it took for the ice to thaw but we had a ball waiting.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

My thermostat should be off this month, but looks like DTE will get a bonus payment. It's been downright December-like this month.

[Meddle]

Oddly enough, I don't recall either off hand. I would have been living either near Fenkell and Greenfield or or Fenkell and Evergreen --- can't remember when I moved exactly.