1982 — Jan 30-Feb 5, Snow/Cold, esp. Midwest, esp. Greater Detroit (15) and IL (11) –47-69

–47-69  Blanchard estimated range based on low-end State tally and at least 69 reported by UPI.

—   >69  Jan 30-Feb 5. UPI. “Midwest gets snow.” Crescent-News, Defiance, OH, 2-5-1982, 12.

—      62  Jan 31-Feb 4. UPI. “New storm builds…” Crescent-News, Defiance OH, 2-4-1982, p1.[1]

–47-48  Blanchard tally of State breakouts below.[2]

—   >39  UPI. “Another blast of snow…in…works.” Daily Press, Escanaba, MI, 2-2-1982, p.10.[3]

 

Arkansas        (4-5)

–5  Two traffic accidents wherein freezing rain and snow were reported contributing factors.[4]

–4  Conway area, U.S. 64, Jan 31. “…car…slipped in wet snow and slid into…traffic.”[5]

 

Colorado        (   1)

–1  Denver, Feb 1-5. Exposure; transient, sleeping in unheated building. NCDC Storm Data, p7.[6]

 

Illinois             ( 11)

—  11  Blanchard breakout of fatalities by locality noted below.

—>10, Feb 1, Chicago area. UPI. “Another blast…” Daily Press, Escanaba, MI, 2-2-1982, p.10.

Breakout of Illinois winter weather related deaths by locality where noted:

–1  Alton, Jan 31. Apparent heart attack sweeping snow from home sidewalk; female, 77.[7]

–1  Charleston, Coles County, Feb 1. Apparent heart attack while shoveling snow; male, 63.[8]

–1  Chicago, Feb 1. Apparent heart attack while shoveling snow; male, 51.[9]

–1  Chicago, Feb 1. Apparent heart attack while shoveling snow; male, 67.[10]

–4  East St. Louis, Feb 1. Apparent heart attacks while shoveling snow.[11]

–1  LaSalle County, Feb 1. Girl, 10, when mother’s car skidded on icy road into oncoming car.[12]

–1  Skokie, Feb 1. Exposure; female, 91, found in mound of snow outside her home.[13]

–1  Union area, Jan 31. Male, 50, while cross-country skiing (apparent heart attack?).[14]

 

Indiana           (  2)

–1  Chesterfield, Jan 31. Heart attack while shoveling snow; male.[15]

–1  Indianapolis, Jan 31. Heart attack cleaning snow/ice off car; male, 72.[16]

 

Kansas            (  1)

–1  Garden City area, Gray Co., Feb 4. Exposure; female; car slid into ditch; left car below 0 day.[17]

 

Michigan        (19)

–19  Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below.

–17  Daily Press, Escanaba, MI. “Death toll at 17.” 2-3-1982, p. 1.[18]

–16  UPI. “Blizzard kills 16…more snow expected.” Daily Press, Escanaba, MI, 2-2-1982, p. 1.

–15  Detroit area, Jan 31-Feb 1.[19]

—  3  Detroit area, Jan 31. Heart attacks related to shoveling snow.

–12  Detroit area, Feb 1. Heart attacks related to shoveling snow.

Eunice Allard, 70, Detroit.

Mary Banaszak, 68, Detroit.

James Brannon, 80, Dearborn.

Cecil Cady, 78, Detroit.

John Carson, 57, Detroit.

Charles Danto, 56, Detroit.

Art Frank, 81, Detroit.

Charles Icenhower, 73, Springfield Township.

Zigmund Jason, 65, Dearborn.

Harold Knutsen, 62, Detroit.

Leong S. Lee, 81, Detroit.

Louis Mueller, 62, Detroit.

George Ross, 69, Royal Oak.

Joseph Zajar, 63, Detroit.

Mary Ziemba, 89, Hamtramck.

—  1  Saginaw Bay, Feb 1. Exposure to cold.

–15  State, Jan 30-31. AP. “Another storm…Michigan…” Ironwood Daily Globe, MI, 2-2-1982, p19.

–13  Apparent heart attacks after shoveling snow.

—  2  Hypothermia/exposure to cold.

–14  State. UPI. “Another blast of snow…works.” Daily Press, Escanaba, MI, 2-2-1982, p. 10.

Breakout of Michigan winter weather deaths by locality:

–15  Detroit area, Jan 31. Heart attacks shoveling snow. NCDC. Storm Data, 24/1, Jan 1982, 20.

—  1  Lake Odessa, Feb 1 (found). Exposure; female, 22, outside near a barn at home.[20]

—  1  Sand Point, Saginaw Bay, Feb 1. Exposure; male, 19, became lost in blinding snowstorm.[21]

—  2  South of Jackson and Port Huron area, Feb 3. Heart attacks from shoveling snow. NCDC.[22]

 

Missouri         (  3)

— >6  St. Louis, Jan 31. UPI. “St. Louis, Toledo buried…” Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria OH, 2-1-1982, 1.

–Several [3], Jan 30-Feb 1. Heart attacks from shoveling snow.[23]

 

Ohio                (  5)

–5  AP. “Bad to Worse: Merciless weather…” Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs, CO, 2-1-1982, p. 1.

–1  Cincinnati area, Mill Creek, Jan 31-Feb 4. Female motorist; lost control on icy bridge.[24]

 

Oklahoma      (  1)

–1  Lawton, Comanche Co., Feb 5. Exposure; female, 84, wandered away from nursing home.[25]

 

Narrative Information

 

Michigan

 

NCDC on Lower Peninsula, Jan 31: “Heaviest snow 12 to 14 inches along Coldwater-Port Huron line tapering to 8 inches at southeast corner of state and 3 to 7 inches in extreme north. Fifteen persons, all in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, suffered fatal heart attacks shoveling snow. Many roads blocked, schools and businesses closed. About 40 persons injured in automobile accidents. About 150 persons injured in falls on ice. Twelve hundred automobiles abandoned on highways. Three hundred stranded motorists in emergency shelters…” (NCDC. Storm Data, 24/1, p. 20.)

 

Missouri

 

NCDC on South Central through East Missouri, Jan 30-31: “One of the worst snowstorms of the century moved from the Northern Ozarks through Eastern Missouri. The storm dumped from 12 to 20 inches with a few reports of up to 24 inches. Some of the large variations were due to heavy thunderstorm activity accompanying the snow. Several deaths were reported due to heart attacks from shoveling snow after this storm or during the next several days when more snow fell. The Missouri National Guard was called out and many private individuals were paid to help clear streets and roads, especially in the St. Louis area. This storm followed heavy rains which had already dumped up to 6 inches of water in Southeast and South-Central portions of the state….The damage for this snowstorm has been estimated at 4 million dollars.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 1, Jan 1982, p. 21.)

 

Newspaper

 

Feb 1: “St. Louis (UPI) — The worst snowstorm in 70 years closed schools and government offices today and businesses were asked to keep employees at home. Police took expectant mothers to hospitals and made emergency deliveries of medication. The city’s highways were blocked with 6-foot-high drifts from the 19-inch snowfall Sunday and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport was closed by the storm — the most snow in a 24-hour period since Feb 12, 1912….” (UPI. “19 inches cripples St. Louis.” Sandusky Register, OH, 2-1-1982, A7.)

 

Ohio

 

Feb 1: “Toledo, Ohio (UPI) — National Guard jeeps today patrolled city streets closed by 7 inches of wind-whipped snow, and at least 30 families statewide were forced to flee their homes as ice-choked rivers surged above flood stage. Gov. James Rhodes ordered guardsmen into the city to man 15 four-wheel drive vehicles for police whose cars were rendered useless after snow belted nine northwestern counties Sunday.” (UPI. “Ohio gets double dose: Snow, floods.” Sandusky Register, OH, 2-1-1982, A7.)

 

Midwest

 

Feb 5: “Stinging cold and more snow punished the Midwest today, threatening to brutalize weather-weary St. Louis and Detroit, already socked by 17 inches of snow that has frustrated city officials. At least 69 people have died nationwide in the relentless wave of storms since last weekend [Saturday was Jan 30]. Consecutive storms hit St. Louis with more snow in one week — 2½ feet — than it gets in a normal year. A churning winter storm dumped heavy snow on the southern Rockies and parts of the Southern Plains, blasting Los Alamos, N.M., with 15 inches of snow and choking north-western Oklahoma with 10 inches.

 

“Kansas City, Mo., received 7 inches of snow overnight. A 2-inch dusting of sleety snow in Chicago was enough to clog freeways and wreck time schedules for trains and buses. Winter storm warnings and watches were posted from New Mexico through Illinois today…

 

“The mercury plunged to 43-below-zero at Park Rapids, Minn. Colorado Springs, Colo., broke an 81-year-old record today with a low of 8 below zero. Denver’s 14 below reading was only 1 degree away from breaking the mark set in 1899….The mercury plunged to 37 below zero at Ironwood, Mich., 8 below in areas east of the Oregon Cascades and an unseasonable 7 below at Denver. Jamestown and Fargo, N.D., recorded highs Thursday of 11 below zero.

 

“City officials in Detroit said about one-third of its overworked snowplows were knocked out of service. ‘You’d have to have at least five times the equipment that we have now’ to clear snow from city streets, said James Watts, public works director….” (United Press International. “Midwest gets snow.” Crescent-News, Defiance, OH, 2-5-1982, p. 12.)

 

Sources

 

Alton Telegraph (Sanford J. Schmidt), Alton, IL. “Another big storm is on its way here.” 2-2-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/alton-telegraph-feb-02-1982-p-1/?tag

 

Anderson Daily Bulletin, IN. “Enough’s enough! Snow paralyzes Madison County…again.” 2-1-1982, p. 2. Accessed 5-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/anderson-daily-bulletin-feb-01-1982-p-2?tag

 

Associated Press. “Another storm in store for lower Michigan this evening.” Ironwood Daily Globe, MI, 2-2-1982, p. 19. Accessed 5-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ironwood-daily-globe-feb-02-1982-p-18/?tag

 

Associated Press. “Bad to Worse: Merciless weather belts New England.” Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs, CO, 2-1-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/colorado-springs-gazette-telegraph-feb-01-1982-p-1/?tag

 

Associated Press. “Old Man Winter won’t give up.” Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs, CO, 2-2-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/colorado-springs-gazette-telegraph-feb-02-1982-p-1/?tag

 

Associated Press. “Seven Killed in Wrecks in State Over Weekend.” Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville, 2-1-1982, p. 14. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fayetteville-northwest-arkansas-times-feb-01-1982-p-14/?tag

 

Associated Press. “Snowdrifts, floodwaters continue winter of bad weather across U.S.” Daily Gazette, Xenia OH, 2-1-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/xenia-daily-gazette-feb-01-1982-p-1/?tag

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 1, January 1982, 33 pages. Asheville, NC: NCDC. Accessed 4-22-2017 at: https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-23CEEEFE-1531-4995-8F92-5459C3258C67.pdf

 

National Climatic Data Center. Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 2, Feb 1982, 16 pages. Asheville, NC: NCDC, NOAA. Accessed 5-11-2917 at: https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-87DD7AAB-9249-4C60-89FA-073EF9AC1E38.pdf

 

United Press International. “19 inches cripples St. Louis.” Sandusky Register, OH, 2-1-1982, A7. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-register-feb-01-1982-p-7/?tag

 

United Press International. “Another blast of snow is in the works.” Daily Press, Escanaba, MI, 2-2-1982, p. 10. Accessed 5-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/escanaba-daily-press-feb-02-1982-p-10/?tag

 

United Press International. “Blizzard kills 16, still more snow expected.” Daily Press, Escanaba, MI, 2-2-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/escanaba-daily-press-feb-02-1982-p-1/?tag

 

United Press International. “Midwest gets snow.” Crescent-News, Defiance, OH, 2-5-1982, p. 12. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/defiance-crescent-news-feb-05-1982-p-12/?tag

 

United Press International. “New storm builds in West.” Crescent-News, Defiance, OH, 2-4-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/defiance-crescent-news-feb-04-1982-p-11/?tag

 

United Press International. “Ohio gets double dose: Snow, floods.” Sandusky Register, OH, 2-1-1982, A7. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-register-feb-01-1982-p-7/?tag

 

United Press International (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12. Accessed 5-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/harrisburg-daily-register-feb-01-1982-p-12/?tag

 

United Press International. “St. Louis, Toledo buried & more is on the way.” Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, OH, 2-1-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-11-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/elyria-chronicle-telegram-feb-01-1982-p-1/?tag

 

United Press International (Dana Walker). “Worst in 70 years.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-1-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-10-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/harrisburg-daily-register-jan-31-1982-p-1/?tag

 

 

[1] “At least 62 deaths nationwide have been blamed on the storms since Sunday [Jan 31].”

[2] Many of the deaths were on Feb 1 after the storm had passed — apparent heart attacks related to shoveling snow.

[3] “Thousands of people were stranded under a ‘Condition Red’ alert…from a two-day storm that crippled the Midwest’s major cities with up to 2 feet of snow and recoiled for another blow today. At least 39 deaths were blamed on the weather.”

[4] UPI. “St. Louis, Toledo buried & more…” Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, OH, 2-1-1982, p. 1. We include figure of five deaths in the range, though other weather-related death reports we have seen relate to car wrecks on wet roads.

[5] AP. “Snowdrifts, floodwaters continue winter of bad weather across U.S.” Daily Gazette, Xenia OH, 2-1-1982, p.1. Another report noted that the fatalities were Faulkner County residents, and identified the driver as Michael Leon Newberry, 26. The other fatalities were his wife Donna K. Newberry, 21; son, Michael Leon Newberry Jr, 6; and Paul F. Rappold, 51, of Vilonia area. (Associated Press. “Seven Killed in Wrecks in State Over Weekend.” Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville, 2-1-1982, p. 14.)

[6] National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 2, Feb 1982, p. 7.

[7] Alton Telegraph (Sanford J. Schmidt), Alton, IL. “Another big storm is on its way here.” 2-2-1982, p. 1.

[8] United Press International (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12. Victim identified as R. T. Shellabarger.

[9] United Press International (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12. Victim identified as Phillip Harvey.

[10] United Press International (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12. Victim identified as Bruno Rossi.

[11] UPI (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12.

[12] United Press International (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12. Victim identified as Louisa Cowan.

[13] Victim identified as Sara Feldman. (United Press International (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12.)

[14] United Press International (Dennis O’Shea). “One pretty day doth not a winter make.” The Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-2-1982, p. 12. Victim identified as Tom Nehrer.

[15] Anderson Daily Bulletin, IN. “Enough’s enough! Snow paralyzes Madison County…again.” 2-1-1982, p. 2.

[16] United Press International (Dana Walker). “Worst in 70 years.” Daily Register, Harrisburg, IL, 2-1-1982, p. 1. Identified victim as Leonard Graves, Sr.

[17] NCDC. Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 2, Feb 1982, p. 9.

[18] Seventeen death is the Lake Odessa female, noted below. Fifteen were snow shoveling related and one exposure.

[19] Notes the victims were “trying to open driveways and sidewalks, which in some cases were covered by up to four feet of drifted snow.”

[20] Associated Press. “Another storm in store for lower Michigan this evening.” Ironwood Daily Globe, MI, 2-2-1982, p. 19. Identifies victim as Cinda D. Fry, and cites Ionia County Medical Examiner for cause of death finding. NCDC Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 2, p. 9.

[21] Associated Press. “Another storm in store for lower Michigan this evening.” Ironwood Daily Globe, MI, 2-2-1982, p. 19. Identifies victim as Martin Harrison, and notes the victim was ice fishing near Sand Point. Also NCDC Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 2, p. 9.

[22] NCDC Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 2, p. 9.

[23] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 1, January 1982, p. 21. “Several deaths were reported due to heart attacks from shoveling snow after this storm or during the next several days when more snow fell.” For the purposes of contributing to a tally we translate “several” into three.

[24] United Press International. “New storm builds in West.” Crescent-News, Defiance, OH, 2-4-1982, p. 1.

[25] NCDC Storm Data, Vol. 24, No. 2, p. 10.