Blizzard of '99 12 yrs ago

**DetroitTeacher** · January-03-11, 04:53 PM

DPS was open and I was at work...'nuff said.

**iheartthed** · January-03-11, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitTeacher

DPS was open and I was at work...'nuff said.

DPS was not open. The storm hit on the Sunday before DPS was to return from Christmas break. DPS didn't reopen until that Friday, only to close down again that next week [[I believe on Tuesday) and not reopen until the week after.

**DetroitTeacher** · January-03-11, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

DPS was not open. The storm hit on the Sunday before DPS was to return from Christmas break. DPS didn't reopen until that Friday, only to close down again that next week [[I believe on Tuesday) and not reopen until the week after.

What the heck storm am I thinking of then? It was the storm right before all the streets began getting plowed in the city. Ack, now I know...I made it to work before they called the snow day. That was the storm where the little girl was waist high in snow [[shown on the media), walking to school...right? I might be thinking of a different storm, though. It took me 2 hours to get to work, I do remember that! It had to be 1999 because it was before I was in my house and that was 2000...but it could have been a totally different day that I am thinking of, who knows anymore! I;m pretty sure I got there and then an hour later they called the snow day. I remember being pissed I drove all that way only to be told to go home.

**rooms222** · January-03-11, 06:22 PM

We had just moved from Ann Arbor to our first house on Dec. 31/Jan. 1. The house was not quite fixed up and I remember going to Best Buy in Dearborn that morning to get something. Then, boom, all that snow.....

**iheartthed** · January-03-11, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitTeacher

What the heck storm am I thinking of then? It was the storm right before all the streets began getting plowed in the city. Ack, now I know...I made it to work before they called the snow day. That was the storm where the little girl was waist high in snow [[shown on the media), walking to school...right? I might be thinking of a different storm, though. It took me 2 hours to get to work, I do remember that! It had to be 1999 because it was before I was in my house and that was 2000...but it could have been a totally different day that I am thinking of, who knows anymore! I;m pretty sure I got there and then an hour later they called the snow day. I remember being pissed I drove all that way only to be told to go home.

They closed DPS that Sunday evening. But there were two [[or three) storms that hit during that week... At the end of it all the total accumulation was a little above 30 inches, if I recall correctly. I can't remember the timing in detail of the following storms, but I do remember the timeline of the first one that set off the hysteria. It's possible that you're thinking of one of the days later in the week, since the district was canceling on a day to day. It wasn't until they reopened and then closed again that they closed all schools "until further notice".

**Maof** · January-03-11, 07:52 PM

darn, im trying to scan a photo of that snow strom but the "new" printer is a pain in the keester. anyway, i remember it well. kids were small, hubby was laid off and the snow was to the top of the chain link fence. we built several igloos for the kids and a few snowman too.

**detroitbob66** · January-04-11, 12:46 AM

I remember it....vaguely....I believe that I sat around getting stoned because I was so depressed to be confined to the house, that and the fact that in 1999 I was only 18 years old!

**blackmath** · January-04-11, 02:15 AM

I was 17 going on 18. During the storm the heater broke in the house. It took a few days to get a repairman to the house so we sat around getting heat from space heaters. The mornings were the worst, but WOW did you wake up quick.

In another way, those few days are one of my most fond memories. My family had a lot of fun roughing it out those few days and came up with hilarious ways to take our mind off the cold.

I also fondly remember the blackout of 03 for a similar reason, but that's for another thread.

Thanks for reminding me

**jackie5275** · January-04-11, 10:33 AM

I remember it starting to snow on Saturday, probably late morning. There were tons of weather advisories and stories about how bad it was going to be, you shouldn't be out unless you need to be, snow emergency get your car off the street, etc. As I remember it, they started predicting it on Christmas Eve and had been talking about it the whole week leading up to it. My husband & I prepared for it by getting about 100 lbs of salt & 2 new shovels. After digging out by shoveling for 2 days, I vowed to never again shovel snow. No more time to be cheap, bought a snow blower, and have upgraded it three times since.
But there is one incident that really sticks out in my mind about that storm. Despite the media blitz of forecasts & warnings and despite the intense, rapid snowfall of that day, a lady who lived about 3 doors down from us had a female guest who arrived in the morning and parked in the street. We kept watching her car get buried deeper & deeper in the snow. We couldn't figure out why she stayed so long at the neighbor's house with all this snow falling. We knew the neighbor wasn't sick, so we figured it was a social visit. The guest didn't leave until early evening. I remember it was already dark when she tried to leave. Needless to say, she got stuck. A tow truck came to get her out. The tow truck got stuck. A big rig tow truck had to come & get them both out. This episode went on for about 3 hours. It was amazing to watch this "damsel in distress" in the snow. I wondered if she ever made it home okay.