About 50,000 abandoned cars and 800 Chicago Transit Authority buses littered the streets and expressways." Other sources estimate 20,000 cars and 1,100 buses stranded in the blizzard. "Thousands were stranded in offices, in schools, in buses. The storm played havoc with travel home from work and school. The snow fell continuously in Chicago and surrounding areas from 5:02 am on Thursday, January 26 until 10:10 am Friday when 23 inches (58 cm) had fallen. Depth of snow and effects on transportation People were not aware of the extent of the storm and that the snow would stop travel within and from the area, as noted in the understated opening to the evening news on television station WMAQ-TV on January 26, 1967, where the newsman reported that the worst of the storm was over, which it was not. On the morning of January 26, the quantities were increased by 4 to 8 inches, well below what would be received. A heavy snow warning was therefore issued. On the evening broadcast, the National Weather Service started talking about snow mixed with freezing rain, but it was not until the night that the forecast was changed to mention snowfall, giving an accumulation of 4 inches. The weather forecast on January 25 for the 26th was for rain or snow because the cold front was forecast to stall in the Chicago area. Snow stopped in the evening in Chicago and strong winds moved north-northwest out of the region. Its central pressure reached 990 mb while passing over Lake Erie and Southern Ontario, Canada. The strong pressure gradient between the latter and the low pressure center caused strong winds over Lake Michigan, causing widespread blowing snow while heavy snowfall affected the Chicago area. ĭew points of 50 to 60 ☏ (10 to 16 ☌), or more, in the warm sector of the surface low brought significant humidity from the Gulf of Mexico while the high pressure moved to the Lake Superior, keeping cold and dry air over the Great Lakes. During the day, the elevated trough and surface low crossed the Mississippi Valley, reaching South-central Indiana before midnight on January 27 and deepening to 997 mb. At midnight Thursday, January 26, the low moved to Oklahoma while strengthening. On the other hand, an upper-level baroclinic trough, coming from the Rockies, developed a low pressure system at the surface near the Texas Panhandle. By the morning of January 25, the mercury had dropped to 31 degrees F. In fact, the front brought arctic air from a strong 1032 mb high pressure center over the southern Canadian Prairies. On Tuesday January 24, the maximum temperature was 65 ☏ (18 ☌) but began to fall the next day with the passage of a marked cold front. Weather map at midnight on January 27, 1967.
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