February 7, 2025 • 39 mins
After just dealing with a snowstorm Thursday in the Greater Boston area, meteorologists predict another storm is heading our way this weekend. Weather reports are predicting between 4-8 inches for Southern New England and Western Massachusetts. The Cape & Islands along with NH are projected to get between 3-6 inches. How are you preparing for the storm? We checked in with Bob Larson, an AccuWeather Meteorologist who discussed storm projections!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's night side with Dan Ray. I'm WBSY Constance Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you Alic Grippin. As we head into our nine
o'clock hour and was as we await apparently the approach
of really the first real snowstorm of this winter of
twenty twenty four and twenty five with us is ACU
meteorologist Bob Larson. Bob, I got a feel and this
(00:26):
one's for real? What say you?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well?
Speaker 4 (00:29):
The first thing, Yeah, it's good to be here, Dan,
thanks for having me this evening. Definitely, this is standing
out more so than anything we've had to this point,
if for no other reason. Notice that we're not talking
about a changeover to sleet and rain and freezing rain,
not only specifically in Boston of course, the north and
west of suburbs, but all the way to the coast,
(00:51):
even out onto the Cave. This is primarily, if not fully,
a snowstorm, and it just no matter how much falls
without having to be concerned about rain, snow lines and
change overs. It's a fast moving storm, so there is
a limit as to how much can pile up. It's
not going to be turning into a mammoth a historic snowstorm,
but it is a snowstorm. It all counts, nonetheless.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So let's talk about this a little bit just to
help people. First of all, at this point and look,
predicting the snow or weather is more difficult than most
people realize. My understanding was that this is somewhere out
in the Midwest, and first of all, what's the timeline.
What's the talking about people here in New England generally,
(01:36):
you know, what's the earliest we're going to see some
snowflakes that are associated with this, and how long will
it last?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Timeline is well, as you mentioned, this is coming from
the Midwest Northern Plains, headed east bound across the Great
Lakes region tonight and then into the northeast tomorrow and
on its way toward New England, and snow should be
breaking out locally pretty close to twenty four hours from now.
I'll give it a window of between eight and ten
o'clock tomorrow evening for star time a little bit sooner
(02:03):
out in Springfield, for example, southwest through to Hertford Providence.
That's the direction more or less that it's coming from,
but somewhere in that time period. So bottom line, if
you have errands to run, things to take care of
things to do. Places to be no issues during the
day Saturday, all the way up through and just past sunset,
but things will go downhill and travel will deteriorate pretty
(02:24):
quickly Saturday evening once this moves in. It's not the
type of snow that where when it starts it's thirty
six degrees and it's initially melting on the roads and
it takes a while for things to get covered. This
should get going pretty quickly once it starts to snow.
Every flake will count and we'll see the snow begin
to pile up. And once the snow falls more heavily
toward and just after midnight, that's when we're really going
(02:46):
to see conditions deteriorate. As even though it's a fast
moving store, there will be a period of time the
snowfall rate will be impressive and still be falling toward
an incher a little bit more per hour, which is
certainly substantial.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Okay, So again, and in terms of the general it
will be over sometime as I understand that after the
sun comes up Sunday morning.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Yeah, think of it roughly a twelve hour storm, so
an eight to ten pm window for a start time,
and likely ending eight to ten am on Sunday, give
or take an hour or so. So think of it
as essentially a twelve hour story. No matter where you are,
it starts first west and southwest likely ends first in
that direction as well.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Okay, and again it's always tough to give a prediction.
But what's the range, what's the what's the most, what's
the least? Do we talk in five to eight or
something like that.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Yeah, it seems like every storm has its complications when
it comes to forecast issues. More often than not isined
determining if and where it's going to be mixing with
and change you over to sleep and freezing rain. I
don't think that's the issue here. As I mentioned, the
issue this time around is the fact that while the
storm originates over the upper Midwest and as the heads
he's bound, there's a secondary story that will be developing
(04:01):
just off the midline of coast and that takes over
as the primary storm. And that's always a little bit
tricky to pinpoint exactly when that handoff occurs from storm
one to storm two and when that becomes the primary storm.
Case in point, long before that secondary storm gets going.
If you were to go do west to here, back
(04:21):
to say like Buffalo, New York, or Erie, Pennsylvania. So
or are they also getting six eight inches of snow? No,
probably only one to three inches of snow. Well, how
can that be because they're not going to have any
influence of this secondary storm, which will have access to
Atlantic moisture. So the storm that's come from the northern
plains is not all that terribly impressive, and as a
matter of fact, should be weakening as it comes eastbound.
(04:43):
But we're banking on the idea that this secondary storm
takes over and becomes and strengthens and becomes the primary storm,
and that puts down some moderate to heavy amounts. We're
expecting in terms of overall range, specifically calling it a
four to eight inch general accumulation across the area, perhaps
a little bit less out on the cape, not because
(05:03):
of rain, but because just it's proximity to where the
secondary is tour in forms. Down to Long Island, it
might be more like two to four inches. And then
you get down to central New Jersey and it's there
that's where they're gonna have a lot of sleep and
freezing rain. As you look to the north, still generally
expecting four to eight inches. I think there's going to
(05:24):
be a zone somewhere from central Massachusetts north and into
central and southern anyway from Mount New Hampshire and to
a down east Maine near or just west of Portland,
where there's going to be upwards of ten ten inches.
I wouldn't be surprised if we get some reports coming.
We had all these reports come to a some official.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Some not.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
But I wouldn't be surprised if we see some reports
of right around a foot not locally per se, but
deeper into and farther north in New England.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Okay, Now, my sense, and I guess just my sense,
is that we haven't had a real snow storm in
the greater Boston area, meaning something like this, this spens
out five four to eight inches, that's a real snowstorm.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Really, in most cases, it's been a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Right, Yeah, it has been. We were we were brushed.
I had to look this up, and I will do
so before we finish this conversation. But I do have
some stats in front of me that I have already
looked up. We have been what I would call Nickeldon
dime so far this year, little, this little of that
and with mixing, and it has added up. The official
(06:31):
snowfall total this season is sixteen point eight inches. Just
shy is seventeen inches? Does that sound a little That
sounds a little high if you're not really thinking about it,
me too, But doesn't that sound hot?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Figure inches? Is that the logan airport figure?
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Yeah, that is logan, And of course that tends are
and lower than most of our northern west. It starts
logan sixteen point eight about seventeen. Compare that to what
is considered average historical average for the first week of February,
where total normally would be twenty seven and a half inches.
So yes, we're below average by a little more than
ten inches ten and a half or so, but not
extraordinary low. It's not like we're in a snow drought.
(07:08):
We are. We just heard that report overall drought. In
terms of precipitation liquid precipitation, yes, that's a different story.
But in terms of snow amounts, it's below average, but
not astoundingly so. And there was that one storm. I
want to say, I know there was more than one
modest storm, but I want to say it was the
first or second week of January last year. Let me
(07:31):
see if I can find how much that was. I
think it kind of what we would say underachieved. Yeah,
it was only about four inches, but.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
That was only snow. That's the only snowstorm last winter
that plow I mean, okay, great, it was a plowable storm. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
There was another one close to that on in mid January,
January sixteenth, there was three and a half inches, and
then the rest of the month it was just a
quarter of an inch here, half inch there. And it
seems to me that February is incredibly quiet. The total
from the entire month, the entire month of February a
year ago was a half inch total.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
And then in March, where we sometimes had some legendary
March snowstorms, March was even less than February. Nothing measurable,
just a trace of snow. So there was just four.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
We got to go back back in a couple of years.
A year ago. I remember, I have a great friend
of mine, Mark McCullough, who has a plow, and he'll
come over, he'll plow for me, and uh, that was
the one time I saw him, And I don't know
that there was a plowerable storm. The year before now.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
It was the year yeah, the year before was the
year that New York City just or a suth broke
a record for the least amount of snow of a
winter season ever. And just after New York, Philadelphia had
no I think it was like a tenth of an
inch snow for the entire winter season. That was two
years ago. So the whole Eastern Seaboard is not having
munch the way of snow for a good solid at
(08:58):
least two years. You got to go way back.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And for me, and I don't know, you know this
better than I do, but for me, you always have
to start most New Englanders who are alive today with
the blizzard of.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Seventy eight, Yeah, legendary.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Blizzard of seventy eight. You probably were very young. I
was a little older. Then you got to think about
the in my opinion, the April first blizzard of April first,
nineteen ninety seven, which was a big storm. And then
he got to think about the winter of twenty fourteen,
(09:34):
twenty and fifty hardly snowed in November, December, half of January,
and then it started snowing in the middle of January
and it wouldn't stop, and we got.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
I wouldn't stop. It was one yeah, one storm after another,
one storm after another. Yeah, it was. It was crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Basically every like like four to seven days or three
six days one year lined up. And then and then
we started running out of places to put the snow
because it right after it shut. It's not like you
could clear and push a pile. And then the post
got harder and higher and higher, and oh it was horrible.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I have a flat roof on an over porch, and
I knew at one point I thought, man, this this
may collapse. The porch was so much out there. So
I got a trusty shovel, climbed out a window, and
all of a sudden I realized up to my armpits
and snow, and I said, you know, if I die,
no one's going to find me until June. I back
(10:36):
in that window. But I didn't realize even how deep
it was it was. It piled up.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
It was incredible. I can tell you this, dand I
can tell you this not and not that we're going
to repeat that, certainly, hope not. But the weather pattern
has changed a lot uh this month compared to January January,
we had a lot of cold weather, not a great
deal of snow. So far in February hasn't been severely cold,
but was starting to see more storms again. Up until now,
(11:02):
they weren't snowstorms or mixed precipitation here and there. But
we're seeing more storms come across the country. We'll lined
up one enter or another. We just said mixed precipitation
just you know, a couple of days back, and then
we've got this one coming. There's another storm that probably
primarily misses us to the south on Tuesday, but there's
one later next week that bears watching. There could be
(11:24):
a snow or mixed precipitation storm. And they all start
on the West coast. It's been so terribly dry, as
we know in California with the horrible wildfires. They're starting
to get rain out there now and heavy stone in
the Sierra starting to be a parade to storms. And
they all march across the country and end up here
in somewhere in these one one way or another. So
we'll have to see how long this pattern continues. But
(11:45):
for the time being, it's looking stormy.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Well again, I appreciate it, bof You're taking the time.
Do you have to work this weekend or no?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
I do not, and don't tell anyone. I don't want to,
you know, yes, Bob Martin, we'll bring him in.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yes, well, but no, management is not listening. Okay, Friday
night at night, that's true, Tue A great time you
and I that are holding the fort, you know. So Hey, Bob,
I appreciate it very much. You're always great to deal with,
and uh, tonight it was a command performance. I said,
we got to talk about this storm because I think
it's going to be for real. You do as well,
(12:24):
your opinion council a lot more than mine. But we're
going to talk about it for the next hour or so.
Thanks so much, Bob, appreciate it, staying my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, we'll try you as well. It's always good to
talk to you.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Have a good evening, right back at you, you too,
have a good weekend. All right, here's what we're gonna do.
Gonna take a break, Gonna give out the phone number
six one seven two four ten thirty six one seven
nine three one ten thirty. My question is this Are
you looking forward to this? I kind of am. I
hate to admit it, but It's been a long winter
(12:56):
without mush snow, and I'm thinking, let's have a little
snowstorm that you know, maybe four to eight inches will
be fine and we'll all be satisfied. I also want
to know if how many of you remember the blizzard
of seventy eight, what you were doing? Where were you?
I know what I was doing. I was working as
a TV reporter. The April first blizzard of nineteen ninety seven,
(13:18):
they called it the April Fools Stay blizzard. I remember
that vividly, vividly, and I have a couple of stories
about that. And then the season of twenty fourteen to
twenty fifteen, we were a snow barren. There was no
snow to speak of until the middle of January, and
(13:39):
then it didn't stop. We're hardy New Englanders. If you're
listening outside of New England at this time and you
want to tell us a snow story, let's just get
ready for the snow. And have you gotten to the
store today and bought some bread, some eggs and some milk,
so you I mean that is a tradition. And also,
don't forget get some witchy, a washer fluid and a shovel.
(14:02):
Remember that all right, let's have some fun with this.
We're in New England. As we can handle it. Six one, seven,
two four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one
ten thirty. It's a Friday night. Let's have a little fun.
Coming back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nights Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Let's go to the phones right away. Gonna start off
with Maureen and Brockton. Maureen, have you battened down the
hatches yet?
Speaker 5 (14:31):
Pretty close?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Dan?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
How are you? I'm doing great? Thanks for calling in
my favorite listeners and callers. What do you think You're ready?
You ready?
Speaker 5 (14:41):
Well, it's really not in my hands. So whatever the
fall is gonna fall, I just haven't deal with it.
I'm not happy. But I have to tell you real quick.
So I was a senior in high school during the
nineteen seventy eight, and honest to goodness, I was really concerned,
not about the snow. But I went to Saint Colin
(15:03):
Kills High School in Brighton, and so we always graduated
in May. And my thought was, oh, good grief, you
know we're gonna have to make up this time. And
the senior class won't graduate until the middle of June,
so that was my somehow.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I will bet you graduated on time.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Yes, thank goodness, we did. But no, you know, it's
you know, we we have been lucky. And I'm not
a fan of the snow, even though I've lived here
all my life. But you know, if it's going to fall,
it's out of my control. I just have to, you know,
just wait and see like everyone else.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, you know, I mean, we'll be okay. I only
got scared a year ago or so. When I heard
that this storm, they had this fancy phrase. You might
remember it. Remember, they said, this storm is coming down
from Canada and it involves a bombo genesis. And I
(16:13):
thought to myself, what the heck is a bombo genesis.
I thought he was a relief pitcher like in the
National League, who I never had heard of. But I
guess it's a specific Someone out there who's more scientifically
oriented than me will be able to tell us. But
I guess it was some sort of combination Latin phrase
like meaning like a snow bomb. But I remembered that phrase,
(16:35):
bombo genesis. I thought to myself, if I ever was
involved in like writing a book or a play or
starting a band. I would call it Bombo genesis because
it was just had a nice ring to it. Did
you remember that phrase at all?
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Or no? It does sound familiar and I want to
touch I know you've got lots of calls. I like
this short and sweet. But going back to twenty fourteen
to twenty fifteen, I had just started my new job
in Hingham, Massachusetts, and the thing that drove me crazy,
I felt and you know, some meteorologists to me, it
(17:16):
was like they had to hit that hundred inches of
snow and I thought, well, honest to goodness, you know,
we don't need another inch. And then I remember driving
home and it was the funniest sight because somebody, you know,
in my neighborhood and they had shoveled and they had
a big sign and it said free snow.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
A little humor, A little humor. Now I've never heard anyone.
We used to go out and do those live shots
and you try to find like the biggest snow pile
in that year. I wasn't in TV anymore, but the
reporters had a really easy time. They could go to
any street corner and find, you know, snow, piles that
were still around in May and they hadn't melted yet.
(17:55):
But hey, that's not worth facing this weekend. But it's
more of a rigulous snowstorm, which which is good as
far as I'm concerned. Let's get have one good snowstorm,
get out of the way, and get ready for watching
spring training. Simple as that. It's a perfect time.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
I'm with you, Dan, Thank you so much, and I've
got more people. You have a wonderful even have a
great weekend, Mauri.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Thanks for your loyalty to the to the program. I
really mean that. You're one of my favorites. Thank you
so much, Thank you so much. Tonight, right, good night,
take a quick break here, we got news at the
bottom of the hour. Your recollections of a snowstorm. Anybody
remember Bombo Genesis. Yeah, that was a big storm. We'll
be back on nice side right after this.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You're on the Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Okay, back to the phones we go, going to go
to Mary in Rhode Island. Mary, Welcome to Night Side.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
How are you welcome. I'm so happy to talk to you.
I've been trying to call and call and call, so
here I.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Am all right, Mary, about.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
Bristol, Bristol right on the waterfront. It's beautiful here, beautiful, beautiful,
been here all my life and I've listened to you
for years and years and I've never called. But I'm
here tonight, Yes I am. I need to tell you.
That's seventy eight. Blizzard just took this the time for everybody,
(19:31):
especially in our street, in our neighborhood, out playing in
the snow, communicating, talking, playing games in the house, playing
games we never played before. And I thought it was
the best thing that ever happened to us.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I obviously it was pretty scary initially, Oh it was.
It was you got to know your neighbors, didn't you.
Speaker 6 (19:55):
Yes, you did. You got to know a lot of
people you never saw other than in a I'm going
by or walking you know.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
So that was I.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Did a TV star. I was working for w b Z.
I was a young reporter, and I went to my
parents' home in Readville, UH and helped shovel the snow
as part of the story. The neighbors were out there, everybody.
Speaker 6 (20:21):
Was everybody, and kids, our kids built a snow h
what do you call it?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Snow ford?
Speaker 6 (20:30):
Snow Ford, Yes, thank you very much. A huge snowfall,
and they played in that thing all for weeks and weeks.
It didn't melt at all. It really didn't, you know.
And I also want.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
To go ahead, No, I just go ahead.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Oh and I just want to say congratulations on your
four thousand show yesterday. I tried to get in and
I couldn't, so I just wanted to say, what a
what a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
How'd you find us? Have you been a busy listener
for most of.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
You years and years and not really? I listened to
all talk shows, but I found you years ago, and
I listened every single night, but I listened to the
Rhode Island stations during the day.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Well, you know what Mary, I want to send since
your first time caller and you're such a loyal listener,
I want you to leave your address with rob.
Speaker 6 (21:25):
Oh my god, I.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Want to send you a gift from our friends at
college Hype. I want to send you a nightside coffee mug.
Are you a coffee drinker?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Oh my god?
Speaker 6 (21:37):
Oh I am. I would love one day and love
one Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Will you stay right there, make sure you yep?
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Can you tell me just one more thing when your
man was down that was substituting for you. He had
a caller on Wednesday night, I think it was that
called in and was talking about a movie that had
been out and it was in that third season and
it was about alcoholics anonymous, and it was a funny movie.
And I can't remember the name of it. Does anybody
(22:08):
know what the name of it was?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Well, if anyone was listening, I was. I was not.
I listened a little bit. I was out of town
for a couple of days and then came back on Wednesday.
It was Wednesday night. Gary Tangway was subbing for me
that night, and maybe Rob might remember that. It's yeah.
The other thing, are you good on a website? Mary,
Because if I am, I am okay, all you got
(22:32):
to do is go to Nightside on demand dot com.
Okay Side on demand dot com. Rob will give you
that you have it, and then you can just scroll back.
We post every night the four hours of the show,
So that hour Wednesday night, if you said it was
in the nine o'clock or hour or.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
The I think it was the nine o'clock or at
the ten o'clock I'm not sure which.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Rob can probably help you with that. A little bit
and be able to pin it down for you. So
unless someone calls in and because said can can give
us the name tomorrow when you get a chance to
Nightside under me in dot com and scroll back.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I will, I will thank you so much, address and
your phone number and we will get a beautiful, dark
blue thank you night Side coffee mug.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
Oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I love it.
Speaker 6 (23:18):
Thank you so much. Congratulations again. No I won't, I won't.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Thank you so much. Mary, appreciate it very very kind
of you to call and to and we did four thousand,
our four thousandth show last night, which for me is
a pretty good accomplishment. Let me go to Ruth at Uxbridge. Hi, Ruth,
welcome next to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Hi Dane, holl are you I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Greaty getting ready and getting excited about the snow.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Yeah, it's gonna look beautiful. And congratulations sign your four
thousand show the other night too. Last night, I'm going
to listen.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
To w BC.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
For so many years, since I was a kid, I
used to get up with Kyle the sous in the morning.
My mother be downstairs yelling, get up, you've got to
go to school and I'm saying, but I knew what
the songs and stuff were on that. I knew what
time it was by what the music was on the review.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Oh absolutely no. WBZ has been such a fixture in
New England for all these years, and names like Carl
de Suzits and I knew. I didn't know him well,
but I worked in television when he was finishing his
career in radio, and well, quite a gentleman, there's no
doubt about that. So which is which storm would you
like to remind us of or talk about?
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Okay, I am looking at right now. I dug it
out last night, and I've got a full page copy
of the Boston Sunday Club stated February nineteenth, nineteenth seventy eight,
and I'm looking at an aerial view of because in
(25:00):
a truck. If this is a big sheet, you know,
a big newspaper with about twelve thirteen pages, and it's
all on the blizzard of seventy eight. It's showing all
these cards that are trapped in the snow on one
twenty eight or one of those. Now, there was a reporter,
I don't sorry, a meteorologist. I don't recognize the name.
(25:25):
Maybe you would a Francis Rex Road.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
No, it doesn't ring a bell, but that's okay, okay.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
So I don't know where he was from, but anyhow,
he was trying to figure out whether we were going
to have this blizzard or just what was going to happen.
And finally it wasn't until he said, it wasn't until
Sunday night and early Monday morning that his worst fears
began to materialize. And it was saying something about fourth
(25:55):
as the warm earstorm myth, the met the force b
the cold air mass, and things started churning. And so
through Sunday they started saying, oh, we're going to be
getting something on Monday morning. But what it goes on
(26:17):
to say, well, we shouldn't mind, you know, we're just
going to get some snow. You know, after all, hadn't
they just come hadn't we just come through a storm
Billy two weeks before, which had jumped a record twenty
one point six inches of snow on the Boston area,
(26:39):
And but they just they just figured it was going
to be another snowstorm. Now. The reason I remember it
so well is my husband and I lived in Reading.
He worked for a company called They Now call it
bb X. If you see the big trucks on the road,
it was Boston Buffalo Express. He got up in that
(27:01):
first snow storm, had to spend two or three days
at the terminal in Boston. He couldn't get home. That
was on that first storm. So when this second storm came,
and when the blizzard started coming in, he said, he
told the boss, he said, I don't care what's happening.
(27:21):
I'm brought on the trailer and I am going home.
And so and he did. He got home and was
home for the blizzard. And once the blizzard was over,
I mean people was, they were skiing. They got pictures
of it skiing down the center of Redding, the town
of Redding.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Absolutely no question about it. Yeah, I will tell you
that I was living in downtown Boston at the time,
and I remember going out. I was called into work
a little early and I thought, okay, it's a regular storm.
I remember I did in that first storm. I had
I drove at that time. You probably no one knows
(28:01):
remembers the type of cars called the Dodge Dart, and
there's a time Stoo drive. I was going into that
tunnel after the first storm, I hit a little bit
of ice. I did a three sixty going into the
tunnel and never hit either side of the wall. It
was America and so on. You know, February Monday. That Monday,
(28:23):
the bean Pot tournament was starting and all of that
it was a snowstorm. Went to work. Uh, They told
us you might want to bring a change of clothes
just in case. We ended up staying at the Ramata
In for two or three days, which was close to
you know WBZ. We worked all day on Monday. We
waded through hip deep snow to go to the Ramada
(28:43):
Inn at midnight after the eleven o'clock news. I worked
the six and eleven at that time, and we got
to the hotel. All the food was gone because they
had they had sent all the clerical staff, the secretaries,
et cetera, the manager, the salespeople. They were like locust.
(29:03):
They ate all the food. We're walking over in the
middle of the blizzard at midnight saying that's great, we'll
get a nice late dinner. There was nothing there, so
the only thing you could have would be like a
couple of beers and peanuts. And they call me at
like four o'clock in the morning. I'd just gone to sleep,
and they said, Jack Chase can't get in from Wellesley.
(29:23):
You're anchoring the morning newscast. They says, look, Jack Williams
called Jack. He's an anchor. I'm just a reporter, and
they said he won't answer his phone. I got up,
put on every piece of clothing I had thought I
was going to die, walked from the rod Inn to WBZ.
Somehow found the front door. You couldn't see. I mean,
it was whiteout conditions. I walked in. I was a mess.
(29:47):
It was about ten minutes and I went on the air.
Don Kent was there. He was at the board. John Yeah,
I was reading the no school announcements, which was basically everything.
And that's my first remembrance of the blizzard of seventy eight.
So yeah, we had similar stories, similar stories. I remember
(30:09):
those cars stranded on U. Originally there were some comments
that people had died out there. There No one died
in those cars, not.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
In those because they got out and they walked. There
was an armory nearby, and they were walking to there
to people's houses. People took them in because I only
lived about half a mile from there. But when the
blizzard finally got over, and nobody could go on the
roads you were. You were grounded for the police. And
(30:39):
when they finally let they got calls in for you know,
your police fight upon and then everybody they they were working,
those people were working, and then they got My husband
got the call to come into work if if you
were out like a big rig he drove. It was
(30:59):
for four you know, big truck. And he went in
and went to work and he said, you know, we
got stopped and asked because you couldn't be on the roads.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
We had Yeah, we had passes as well because we
were doing live reports. And a matter of fact, someone
uh in in Nevada from Massachusetts who's a friend of mine,
looked at the WBZ website and there's a shot of
me yesterday, Jack Williams on anchoring and I was out
on a bridge over the expressway and at the height
(31:34):
of the storm. And my friend from many many years ago,
she is She sent me a text and she said,
I looked at this video today. Was that you? I said, yes,
it was, yes, it was. Uh. You know, you've been
a great nightside Listen. We're going to get you a
nightside mug too. Okay, I want you to leave it.
The name and address will get you a Nightside coffee mug.
(31:58):
So the next time you're having coffee, think of our conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Okay, I'll think of it when I'm drinking my hot
coco with the marshmallow in that coco.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
And marshmallow my favorite as well. Don't hang up, Rob
will take that information. Okay, thank you so much, Ruth.
We'll take a quick break here on Nightside twelve minutes
before ten. We can continue to talk about this into
the next hour. I think this is fun. This is
this is really what North America's back porch is all about.
Storm's coming. Step up on the porch and tell us
your story back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Now back to Dan Ray, mine from the window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Whether it's miserable, the traffic is miserable, and your inside
stay there. That is your humble TV reporter from nineteen
seventy eight met Dan Ray reporting on WBZTV at the
height of the blizzard of seventy eight. Back to the calls,
we go gonna go to who's next here? Pattison, Weymouth,
pat you are next on Nightside, Go right ahead, Hi,
(32:57):
er hi Dot.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
I am from Buffalo, New York, and you had the
blizzard of seventy eight.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
We had hours as.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Seventy seven, and it's known as the Blizzard of seventy seven,
and it was the exact same circumstances. The city was paralyzed.
Cars were stranded on the throughway. There was one time
that I saw two buses that had pulled over. They
were almost flipped and the passengers were still on it.
(33:30):
People were out cross country skiing. There was there was
a bar close by and people were going in there
walking and some of the people from one of the
buses had gone to their bar to just wait it out,
I guess. And they brought ambulances in three ambulances and
(33:51):
all the passengers from the bus. They weren't injured, but
they that was the only, I guess, vehicle that could
get to them.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Wow, New York. Yeah, you guys have had some tough
snowstorms over the here's up there.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Yeah, I know, I know, but everybody talks about seventy
eight and I always talk about seventy seven. And a
personal story. I was twenty nine at the time I
worked downtown. I had a four year old daughter who
was in a daycare center. Of course, there's no cell phones,
and we could connect with I could connect with the
daycare center and obviously tell them I'm not going to
(34:29):
be there. And the kids were all there or stranded
because parents couldn't get there, and they were having There
was a pizza par a, pizza parallel right across the street,
and all they were eating was pizza. And I stayed
overnight at a friend's house two or three nights, and
then I was very anxious because I wanted to get
(34:51):
to my daughter. I wanted to get home. I wanted
to make sure she was okay. And a friend of
mine had a four wheel drive truck jeep, so he said,
come on, I'll give it a shot. So God love him.
He got me to the take care center and I
went in. I was the first parent there, and my
daughter didn't want any part of me. She was four
(35:15):
years old. She was hiving a ball. Yeah, you know,
run out on pizza. Pizza.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Oh that's great. So you've relocated to Boston, I.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Assume, right, yeah, about fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Uh, we'll watch you back to Boston. Why would you
ever leave a city like Buffalo, beautiful as it is, Richard.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
Hey, the Bills, I wish they were in the Super Bowl,
but Josh Hale and got moster MDP.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Yeah, no that I was written for you Bills. Maybe
next year. Maybe next year, keep one for Buffalo before
the Patriots get back together. Pat thank you so much
for calling. Have you ever call before? Now?
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Yeah, yes, I have. I called a couple of times.
I will just wanted to put in my regards.
Speaker 5 (36:04):
To the Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
All right, absolutely so, we got a lot of listeners
in Buffalo. Maybe we'll hear from someone next hour.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Okay, pegs bat yep, Okay, thanks a lot. Nice talking
to you.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Good to talk to you as well. Linda is in Waymouth. Linda,
I got a couple of minutes herefore, you want to
get you in under the wire. How are you hi?
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Pretty well?
Speaker 7 (36:23):
I can't believe how cold has been and windy combination.
And I went out looking for ice melt uh huh.
The only place I got it was from a auto shop.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Well, Lisia got some hopefully hopefully whatever hits uh, we'll
be gone in a few days. We'll have to see what.
Speaker 7 (36:44):
I shared around.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's gonna it's gonna be tough, but you're
you're in New England, are you you can handle it right?
Speaker 5 (36:53):
Ah?
Speaker 7 (36:54):
Yes, But I'm an older New Englander and.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
All older New Englanders at this point, but.
Speaker 7 (37:00):
I am a former skier and that you know. I
go into work or different places and I do a comparison.
I said, how many layers do you have? You can
always take off the layers if you put them on,
but you can't put on if you don't have them.
And I've seen guys, football player types, guys walking around
short sleeves and shorts on with the wind and the boo.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Yep, Okay, they won't be doing that tomorrow. I'll think.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
I've seen them. Anyways. My Blizzards of seventy eighth story
I remember seeing on the radio, from the radio on
the TV, the stories that pitches that the ladies have
spoken of. My story is that I worked at a
halfway center for special needs young people workshop and mine
(37:54):
was a clerical unit and we got dismissed. We weren't
I mean, I wasn't really expecting a big thing, so
I left what needed to be marked over, you know,
the home they worked. It was done during the day
I had to take I should have been taking it
home to correct it. At home, I said, I'll get
(38:16):
in tomorrow, arg you tomorrow, and it's not much here.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Probably a week later you corrected those papers, I will
bet exactly.
Speaker 7 (38:24):
And I was kicking myself and I said, oh my goodness,
I did get my cross country skis. I'm really a
downhill skier, but I did have a pair of cross
countries that I borrowed to go back and forth the
street and give some neighbors a hand with a shoveling.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Good for you, Good for you, Linda. I got you
under the wire, but I got the ten o'clock news
and we both got to get out of there. I mean,
thanks so much for Colin. We'll talk soon, okay, stay
stay good day, Thanks good night. Okay, we'll take a break.
If you're on the line, John, Florence Alis Terry, stay
there only line opened six. Let's keep talking about this
(39:00):
because hey, it's New England. We can talk about it
here on the North America's Backboarch coming back on nightside
right after the ten o'clock news,
It's night side with Dan Ray. I'm WBSY Constance Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you Alic Grippin. As we head into our nine
o'clock hour and was as we await apparently the approach
of really the first real snowstorm of this winter of
twenty twenty four and twenty five with us is ACU
meteorologist Bob Larson. Bob, I got a feel and this
(00:26):
one's for real? What say you?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well?
Speaker 4 (00:29):
The first thing, Yeah, it's good to be here, Dan,
thanks for having me this evening. Definitely, this is standing
out more so than anything we've had to this point,
if for no other reason. Notice that we're not talking
about a changeover to sleet and rain and freezing rain,
not only specifically in Boston of course, the north and
west of suburbs, but all the way to the coast,
(00:51):
even out onto the Cave. This is primarily, if not fully,
a snowstorm, and it just no matter how much falls
without having to be concerned about rain, snow lines and
change overs. It's a fast moving storm, so there is
a limit as to how much can pile up. It's
not going to be turning into a mammoth a historic snowstorm,
but it is a snowstorm. It all counts, nonetheless.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So let's talk about this a little bit just to
help people. First of all, at this point and look,
predicting the snow or weather is more difficult than most
people realize. My understanding was that this is somewhere out
in the Midwest, and first of all, what's the timeline.
What's the talking about people here in New England generally,
(01:36):
you know, what's the earliest we're going to see some
snowflakes that are associated with this, and how long will
it last?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Timeline is well, as you mentioned, this is coming from
the Midwest Northern Plains, headed east bound across the Great
Lakes region tonight and then into the northeast tomorrow and
on its way toward New England, and snow should be
breaking out locally pretty close to twenty four hours from now.
I'll give it a window of between eight and ten
o'clock tomorrow evening for star time a little bit sooner
(02:03):
out in Springfield, for example, southwest through to Hertford Providence.
That's the direction more or less that it's coming from,
but somewhere in that time period. So bottom line, if
you have errands to run, things to take care of
things to do. Places to be no issues during the
day Saturday, all the way up through and just past sunset,
but things will go downhill and travel will deteriorate pretty
(02:24):
quickly Saturday evening once this moves in. It's not the
type of snow that where when it starts it's thirty
six degrees and it's initially melting on the roads and
it takes a while for things to get covered. This
should get going pretty quickly once it starts to snow.
Every flake will count and we'll see the snow begin
to pile up. And once the snow falls more heavily
toward and just after midnight, that's when we're really going
(02:46):
to see conditions deteriorate. As even though it's a fast
moving store, there will be a period of time the
snowfall rate will be impressive and still be falling toward
an incher a little bit more per hour, which is
certainly substantial.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Okay, So again, and in terms of the general it
will be over sometime as I understand that after the
sun comes up Sunday morning.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Yeah, think of it roughly a twelve hour storm, so
an eight to ten pm window for a start time,
and likely ending eight to ten am on Sunday, give
or take an hour or so. So think of it
as essentially a twelve hour story. No matter where you are,
it starts first west and southwest likely ends first in
that direction as well.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Okay, and again it's always tough to give a prediction.
But what's the range, what's the what's the most, what's
the least? Do we talk in five to eight or
something like that.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Yeah, it seems like every storm has its complications when
it comes to forecast issues. More often than not isined
determining if and where it's going to be mixing with
and change you over to sleep and freezing rain. I
don't think that's the issue here. As I mentioned, the
issue this time around is the fact that while the
storm originates over the upper Midwest and as the heads
he's bound, there's a secondary story that will be developing
(04:01):
just off the midline of coast and that takes over
as the primary storm. And that's always a little bit
tricky to pinpoint exactly when that handoff occurs from storm
one to storm two and when that becomes the primary storm.
Case in point, long before that secondary storm gets going.
If you were to go do west to here, back
(04:21):
to say like Buffalo, New York, or Erie, Pennsylvania. So
or are they also getting six eight inches of snow? No,
probably only one to three inches of snow. Well, how
can that be because they're not going to have any
influence of this secondary storm, which will have access to
Atlantic moisture. So the storm that's come from the northern
plains is not all that terribly impressive, and as a
matter of fact, should be weakening as it comes eastbound.
(04:43):
But we're banking on the idea that this secondary storm
takes over and becomes and strengthens and becomes the primary storm,
and that puts down some moderate to heavy amounts. We're
expecting in terms of overall range, specifically calling it a
four to eight inch general accumulation across the area, perhaps
a little bit less out on the cape, not because
(05:03):
of rain, but because just it's proximity to where the
secondary is tour in forms. Down to Long Island, it
might be more like two to four inches. And then
you get down to central New Jersey and it's there
that's where they're gonna have a lot of sleep and
freezing rain. As you look to the north, still generally
expecting four to eight inches. I think there's going to
(05:24):
be a zone somewhere from central Massachusetts north and into
central and southern anyway from Mount New Hampshire and to
a down east Maine near or just west of Portland,
where there's going to be upwards of ten ten inches.
I wouldn't be surprised if we get some reports coming.
We had all these reports come to a some official.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Some not.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
But I wouldn't be surprised if we see some reports
of right around a foot not locally per se, but
deeper into and farther north in New England.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Okay, Now, my sense, and I guess just my sense,
is that we haven't had a real snow storm in
the greater Boston area, meaning something like this, this spens
out five four to eight inches, that's a real snowstorm.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Really, in most cases, it's been a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Right, Yeah, it has been. We were we were brushed.
I had to look this up, and I will do
so before we finish this conversation. But I do have
some stats in front of me that I have already
looked up. We have been what I would call Nickeldon
dime so far this year, little, this little of that
and with mixing, and it has added up. The official
(06:31):
snowfall total this season is sixteen point eight inches. Just
shy is seventeen inches? Does that sound a little That
sounds a little high if you're not really thinking about it,
me too, But doesn't that sound hot?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Figure inches? Is that the logan airport figure?
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Yeah, that is logan, And of course that tends are
and lower than most of our northern west. It starts
logan sixteen point eight about seventeen. Compare that to what
is considered average historical average for the first week of February,
where total normally would be twenty seven and a half inches.
So yes, we're below average by a little more than
ten inches ten and a half or so, but not
extraordinary low. It's not like we're in a snow drought.
(07:08):
We are. We just heard that report overall drought. In
terms of precipitation liquid precipitation, yes, that's a different story.
But in terms of snow amounts, it's below average, but
not astoundingly so. And there was that one storm. I
want to say, I know there was more than one
modest storm, but I want to say it was the
first or second week of January last year. Let me
(07:31):
see if I can find how much that was. I
think it kind of what we would say underachieved. Yeah,
it was only about four inches, but.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
That was only snow. That's the only snowstorm last winter
that plow I mean, okay, great, it was a plowable storm. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
There was another one close to that on in mid January,
January sixteenth, there was three and a half inches, and
then the rest of the month it was just a
quarter of an inch here, half inch there. And it
seems to me that February is incredibly quiet. The total
from the entire month, the entire month of February a
year ago was a half inch total.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
And then in March, where we sometimes had some legendary
March snowstorms, March was even less than February. Nothing measurable,
just a trace of snow. So there was just four.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
We got to go back back in a couple of years.
A year ago. I remember, I have a great friend
of mine, Mark McCullough, who has a plow, and he'll
come over, he'll plow for me, and uh, that was
the one time I saw him, And I don't know
that there was a plowerable storm. The year before now.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
It was the year yeah, the year before was the
year that New York City just or a suth broke
a record for the least amount of snow of a
winter season ever. And just after New York, Philadelphia had
no I think it was like a tenth of an
inch snow for the entire winter season. That was two
years ago. So the whole Eastern Seaboard is not having
munch the way of snow for a good solid at
(08:58):
least two years. You got to go way back.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And for me, and I don't know, you know this
better than I do, but for me, you always have
to start most New Englanders who are alive today with
the blizzard of.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Seventy eight, Yeah, legendary.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Blizzard of seventy eight. You probably were very young. I
was a little older. Then you got to think about
the in my opinion, the April first blizzard of April first,
nineteen ninety seven, which was a big storm. And then
he got to think about the winter of twenty fourteen,
(09:34):
twenty and fifty hardly snowed in November, December, half of January,
and then it started snowing in the middle of January
and it wouldn't stop, and we got.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
I wouldn't stop. It was one yeah, one storm after another,
one storm after another. Yeah, it was. It was crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Basically every like like four to seven days or three
six days one year lined up. And then and then
we started running out of places to put the snow
because it right after it shut. It's not like you
could clear and push a pile. And then the post
got harder and higher and higher, and oh it was horrible.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I have a flat roof on an over porch, and
I knew at one point I thought, man, this this
may collapse. The porch was so much out there. So
I got a trusty shovel, climbed out a window, and
all of a sudden I realized up to my armpits
and snow, and I said, you know, if I die,
no one's going to find me until June. I back
(10:36):
in that window. But I didn't realize even how deep
it was it was. It piled up.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
It was incredible. I can tell you this, dand I
can tell you this not and not that we're going
to repeat that, certainly, hope not. But the weather pattern
has changed a lot uh this month compared to January January,
we had a lot of cold weather, not a great
deal of snow. So far in February hasn't been severely cold,
but was starting to see more storms again. Up until now,
(11:02):
they weren't snowstorms or mixed precipitation here and there. But
we're seeing more storms come across the country. We'll lined
up one enter or another. We just said mixed precipitation
just you know, a couple of days back, and then
we've got this one coming. There's another storm that probably
primarily misses us to the south on Tuesday, but there's
one later next week that bears watching. There could be
(11:24):
a snow or mixed precipitation storm. And they all start
on the West coast. It's been so terribly dry, as
we know in California with the horrible wildfires. They're starting
to get rain out there now and heavy stone in
the Sierra starting to be a parade to storms. And
they all march across the country and end up here
in somewhere in these one one way or another. So
we'll have to see how long this pattern continues. But
(11:45):
for the time being, it's looking stormy.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Well again, I appreciate it, bof You're taking the time.
Do you have to work this weekend or no?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
I do not, and don't tell anyone. I don't want to,
you know, yes, Bob Martin, we'll bring him in.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yes, well, but no, management is not listening. Okay, Friday
night at night, that's true, Tue A great time you
and I that are holding the fort, you know. So Hey, Bob,
I appreciate it very much. You're always great to deal with,
and uh, tonight it was a command performance. I said,
we got to talk about this storm because I think
it's going to be for real. You do as well,
(12:24):
your opinion council a lot more than mine. But we're
going to talk about it for the next hour or so.
Thanks so much, Bob, appreciate it, staying my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, we'll try you as well. It's always good to
talk to you.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Have a good evening, right back at you, you too,
have a good weekend. All right, here's what we're gonna do.
Gonna take a break, Gonna give out the phone number
six one seven two four ten thirty six one seven
nine three one ten thirty. My question is this Are
you looking forward to this? I kind of am. I
hate to admit it, but It's been a long winter
(12:56):
without mush snow, and I'm thinking, let's have a little
snowstorm that you know, maybe four to eight inches will
be fine and we'll all be satisfied. I also want
to know if how many of you remember the blizzard
of seventy eight, what you were doing? Where were you?
I know what I was doing. I was working as
a TV reporter. The April first blizzard of nineteen ninety seven,
(13:18):
they called it the April Fools Stay blizzard. I remember
that vividly, vividly, and I have a couple of stories
about that. And then the season of twenty fourteen to
twenty fifteen, we were a snow barren. There was no
snow to speak of until the middle of January, and
(13:39):
then it didn't stop. We're hardy New Englanders. If you're
listening outside of New England at this time and you
want to tell us a snow story, let's just get
ready for the snow. And have you gotten to the
store today and bought some bread, some eggs and some milk,
so you I mean that is a tradition. And also,
don't forget get some witchy, a washer fluid and a shovel.
(14:02):
Remember that all right, let's have some fun with this.
We're in New England. As we can handle it. Six one, seven,
two four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one
ten thirty. It's a Friday night. Let's have a little fun.
Coming back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nights Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Let's go to the phones right away. Gonna start off
with Maureen and Brockton. Maureen, have you battened down the
hatches yet?
Speaker 5 (14:31):
Pretty close?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Dan?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
How are you? I'm doing great? Thanks for calling in
my favorite listeners and callers. What do you think You're ready?
You ready?
Speaker 5 (14:41):
Well, it's really not in my hands. So whatever the
fall is gonna fall, I just haven't deal with it.
I'm not happy. But I have to tell you real quick.
So I was a senior in high school during the
nineteen seventy eight, and honest to goodness, I was really concerned,
not about the snow. But I went to Saint Colin
(15:03):
Kills High School in Brighton, and so we always graduated
in May. And my thought was, oh, good grief, you
know we're gonna have to make up this time. And
the senior class won't graduate until the middle of June,
so that was my somehow.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I will bet you graduated on time.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
Yes, thank goodness, we did. But no, you know, it's
you know, we we have been lucky. And I'm not
a fan of the snow, even though I've lived here
all my life. But you know, if it's going to fall,
it's out of my control. I just have to, you know,
just wait and see like everyone else.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, you know, I mean, we'll be okay. I only
got scared a year ago or so. When I heard
that this storm, they had this fancy phrase. You might
remember it. Remember, they said, this storm is coming down
from Canada and it involves a bombo genesis. And I
(16:13):
thought to myself, what the heck is a bombo genesis.
I thought he was a relief pitcher like in the
National League, who I never had heard of. But I
guess it's a specific Someone out there who's more scientifically
oriented than me will be able to tell us. But
I guess it was some sort of combination Latin phrase
like meaning like a snow bomb. But I remembered that phrase,
(16:35):
bombo genesis. I thought to myself, if I ever was
involved in like writing a book or a play or
starting a band. I would call it Bombo genesis because
it was just had a nice ring to it. Did
you remember that phrase at all?
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Or no? It does sound familiar and I want to
touch I know you've got lots of calls. I like
this short and sweet. But going back to twenty fourteen
to twenty fifteen, I had just started my new job
in Hingham, Massachusetts, and the thing that drove me crazy,
I felt and you know, some meteorologists to me, it
(17:16):
was like they had to hit that hundred inches of
snow and I thought, well, honest to goodness, you know,
we don't need another inch. And then I remember driving
home and it was the funniest sight because somebody, you know,
in my neighborhood and they had shoveled and they had
a big sign and it said free snow.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
A little humor, A little humor. Now I've never heard anyone.
We used to go out and do those live shots
and you try to find like the biggest snow pile
in that year. I wasn't in TV anymore, but the
reporters had a really easy time. They could go to
any street corner and find, you know, snow, piles that
were still around in May and they hadn't melted yet.
(17:55):
But hey, that's not worth facing this weekend. But it's
more of a rigulous snowstorm, which which is good as
far as I'm concerned. Let's get have one good snowstorm,
get out of the way, and get ready for watching
spring training. Simple as that. It's a perfect time.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
I'm with you, Dan, Thank you so much, and I've
got more people. You have a wonderful even have a
great weekend, Mauri.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Thanks for your loyalty to the to the program. I
really mean that. You're one of my favorites. Thank you
so much, Thank you so much. Tonight, right, good night,
take a quick break here, we got news at the
bottom of the hour. Your recollections of a snowstorm. Anybody
remember Bombo Genesis. Yeah, that was a big storm. We'll
be back on nice side right after this.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You're on the Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Okay, back to the phones we go, going to go
to Mary in Rhode Island. Mary, Welcome to Night Side.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
How are you welcome. I'm so happy to talk to you.
I've been trying to call and call and call, so
here I.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Am all right, Mary, about.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
Bristol, Bristol right on the waterfront. It's beautiful here, beautiful, beautiful,
been here all my life and I've listened to you
for years and years and I've never called. But I'm
here tonight, Yes I am. I need to tell you.
That's seventy eight. Blizzard just took this the time for everybody,
(19:31):
especially in our street, in our neighborhood, out playing in
the snow, communicating, talking, playing games in the house, playing
games we never played before. And I thought it was
the best thing that ever happened to us.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I obviously it was pretty scary initially, Oh it was.
It was you got to know your neighbors, didn't you.
Speaker 6 (19:55):
Yes, you did. You got to know a lot of
people you never saw other than in a I'm going
by or walking you know.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
So that was I.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Did a TV star. I was working for w b Z.
I was a young reporter, and I went to my
parents' home in Readville, UH and helped shovel the snow
as part of the story. The neighbors were out there, everybody.
Speaker 6 (20:21):
Was everybody, and kids, our kids built a snow h
what do you call it?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Snow ford?
Speaker 6 (20:30):
Snow Ford, Yes, thank you very much. A huge snowfall,
and they played in that thing all for weeks and weeks.
It didn't melt at all. It really didn't, you know.
And I also want.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
To go ahead, No, I just go ahead.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Oh and I just want to say congratulations on your
four thousand show yesterday. I tried to get in and
I couldn't, so I just wanted to say, what a
what a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
How'd you find us? Have you been a busy listener
for most of.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
You years and years and not really? I listened to
all talk shows, but I found you years ago, and
I listened every single night, but I listened to the
Rhode Island stations during the day.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Well, you know what Mary, I want to send since
your first time caller and you're such a loyal listener,
I want you to leave your address with rob.
Speaker 6 (21:25):
Oh my god, I.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Want to send you a gift from our friends at
college Hype. I want to send you a nightside coffee mug.
Are you a coffee drinker?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Oh my god?
Speaker 6 (21:37):
Oh I am. I would love one day and love
one Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Will you stay right there, make sure you yep?
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Can you tell me just one more thing when your
man was down that was substituting for you. He had
a caller on Wednesday night, I think it was that
called in and was talking about a movie that had
been out and it was in that third season and
it was about alcoholics anonymous, and it was a funny movie.
And I can't remember the name of it. Does anybody
(22:08):
know what the name of it was?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Well, if anyone was listening, I was. I was not.
I listened a little bit. I was out of town
for a couple of days and then came back on Wednesday.
It was Wednesday night. Gary Tangway was subbing for me
that night, and maybe Rob might remember that. It's yeah.
The other thing, are you good on a website? Mary,
Because if I am, I am okay, all you got
(22:32):
to do is go to Nightside on demand dot com.
Okay Side on demand dot com. Rob will give you
that you have it, and then you can just scroll back.
We post every night the four hours of the show,
So that hour Wednesday night, if you said it was
in the nine o'clock or hour or.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
The I think it was the nine o'clock or at
the ten o'clock I'm not sure which.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Rob can probably help you with that. A little bit
and be able to pin it down for you. So
unless someone calls in and because said can can give
us the name tomorrow when you get a chance to
Nightside under me in dot com and scroll back.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I will, I will thank you so much, address and
your phone number and we will get a beautiful, dark
blue thank you night Side coffee mug.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
Oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I love it.
Speaker 6 (23:18):
Thank you so much. Congratulations again. No I won't, I won't.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Thank you so much. Mary, appreciate it very very kind
of you to call and to and we did four thousand,
our four thousandth show last night, which for me is
a pretty good accomplishment. Let me go to Ruth at Uxbridge. Hi, Ruth,
welcome next to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Hi Dane, holl are you I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Greaty getting ready and getting excited about the snow.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Yeah, it's gonna look beautiful. And congratulations sign your four
thousand show the other night too. Last night, I'm going
to listen.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
To w BC.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
For so many years, since I was a kid, I
used to get up with Kyle the sous in the morning.
My mother be downstairs yelling, get up, you've got to
go to school and I'm saying, but I knew what
the songs and stuff were on that. I knew what
time it was by what the music was on the review.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Oh absolutely no. WBZ has been such a fixture in
New England for all these years, and names like Carl
de Suzits and I knew. I didn't know him well,
but I worked in television when he was finishing his
career in radio, and well, quite a gentleman, there's no
doubt about that. So which is which storm would you
like to remind us of or talk about?
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Okay, I am looking at right now. I dug it
out last night, and I've got a full page copy
of the Boston Sunday Club stated February nineteenth, nineteenth seventy eight,
and I'm looking at an aerial view of because in
(25:00):
a truck. If this is a big sheet, you know,
a big newspaper with about twelve thirteen pages, and it's
all on the blizzard of seventy eight. It's showing all
these cards that are trapped in the snow on one
twenty eight or one of those. Now, there was a reporter,
I don't sorry, a meteorologist. I don't recognize the name.
(25:25):
Maybe you would a Francis Rex Road.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
No, it doesn't ring a bell, but that's okay, okay.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
So I don't know where he was from, but anyhow,
he was trying to figure out whether we were going
to have this blizzard or just what was going to happen.
And finally it wasn't until he said, it wasn't until
Sunday night and early Monday morning that his worst fears
began to materialize. And it was saying something about fourth
(25:55):
as the warm earstorm myth, the met the force b
the cold air mass, and things started churning. And so
through Sunday they started saying, oh, we're going to be
getting something on Monday morning. But what it goes on
(26:17):
to say, well, we shouldn't mind, you know, we're just
going to get some snow. You know, after all, hadn't
they just come hadn't we just come through a storm
Billy two weeks before, which had jumped a record twenty
one point six inches of snow on the Boston area,
(26:39):
And but they just they just figured it was going
to be another snowstorm. Now. The reason I remember it
so well is my husband and I lived in Reading.
He worked for a company called They Now call it
bb X. If you see the big trucks on the road,
it was Boston Buffalo Express. He got up in that
(27:01):
first snow storm, had to spend two or three days
at the terminal in Boston. He couldn't get home. That
was on that first storm. So when this second storm came,
and when the blizzard started coming in, he said, he
told the boss, he said, I don't care what's happening.
(27:21):
I'm brought on the trailer and I am going home.
And so and he did. He got home and was
home for the blizzard. And once the blizzard was over,
I mean people was, they were skiing. They got pictures
of it skiing down the center of Redding, the town
of Redding.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Absolutely no question about it. Yeah, I will tell you
that I was living in downtown Boston at the time,
and I remember going out. I was called into work
a little early and I thought, okay, it's a regular storm.
I remember I did in that first storm. I had
I drove at that time. You probably no one knows
(28:01):
remembers the type of cars called the Dodge Dart, and
there's a time Stoo drive. I was going into that
tunnel after the first storm, I hit a little bit
of ice. I did a three sixty going into the
tunnel and never hit either side of the wall. It
was America and so on. You know, February Monday. That Monday,
(28:23):
the bean Pot tournament was starting and all of that
it was a snowstorm. Went to work. Uh, They told
us you might want to bring a change of clothes
just in case. We ended up staying at the Ramata
In for two or three days, which was close to
you know WBZ. We worked all day on Monday. We
waded through hip deep snow to go to the Ramada
(28:43):
Inn at midnight after the eleven o'clock news. I worked
the six and eleven at that time, and we got
to the hotel. All the food was gone because they
had they had sent all the clerical staff, the secretaries,
et cetera, the manager, the salespeople. They were like locust.
(29:03):
They ate all the food. We're walking over in the
middle of the blizzard at midnight saying that's great, we'll
get a nice late dinner. There was nothing there, so
the only thing you could have would be like a
couple of beers and peanuts. And they call me at
like four o'clock in the morning. I'd just gone to sleep,
and they said, Jack Chase can't get in from Wellesley.
(29:23):
You're anchoring the morning newscast. They says, look, Jack Williams
called Jack. He's an anchor. I'm just a reporter, and
they said he won't answer his phone. I got up,
put on every piece of clothing I had thought I
was going to die, walked from the rod Inn to WBZ.
Somehow found the front door. You couldn't see. I mean,
it was whiteout conditions. I walked in. I was a mess.
(29:47):
It was about ten minutes and I went on the air.
Don Kent was there. He was at the board. John Yeah,
I was reading the no school announcements, which was basically everything.
And that's my first remembrance of the blizzard of seventy eight.
So yeah, we had similar stories, similar stories. I remember
(30:09):
those cars stranded on U. Originally there were some comments
that people had died out there. There No one died
in those cars, not.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
In those because they got out and they walked. There
was an armory nearby, and they were walking to there
to people's houses. People took them in because I only
lived about half a mile from there. But when the
blizzard finally got over, and nobody could go on the
roads you were. You were grounded for the police. And
(30:39):
when they finally let they got calls in for you know,
your police fight upon and then everybody they they were working,
those people were working, and then they got My husband
got the call to come into work if if you
were out like a big rig he drove. It was
(30:59):
for four you know, big truck. And he went in
and went to work and he said, you know, we
got stopped and asked because you couldn't be on the roads.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
We had Yeah, we had passes as well because we
were doing live reports. And a matter of fact, someone
uh in in Nevada from Massachusetts who's a friend of mine,
looked at the WBZ website and there's a shot of
me yesterday, Jack Williams on anchoring and I was out
on a bridge over the expressway and at the height
(31:34):
of the storm. And my friend from many many years ago,
she is She sent me a text and she said,
I looked at this video today. Was that you? I said, yes,
it was, yes, it was. Uh. You know, you've been
a great nightside Listen. We're going to get you a
nightside mug too. Okay, I want you to leave it.
The name and address will get you a Nightside coffee mug.
(31:58):
So the next time you're having coffee, think of our conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Okay, I'll think of it when I'm drinking my hot
coco with the marshmallow in that coco.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
And marshmallow my favorite as well. Don't hang up, Rob
will take that information. Okay, thank you so much, Ruth.
We'll take a quick break here on Nightside twelve minutes
before ten. We can continue to talk about this into
the next hour. I think this is fun. This is
this is really what North America's back porch is all about.
Storm's coming. Step up on the porch and tell us
your story back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Now back to Dan Ray, mine from the window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Whether it's miserable, the traffic is miserable, and your inside
stay there. That is your humble TV reporter from nineteen
seventy eight met Dan Ray reporting on WBZTV at the
height of the blizzard of seventy eight. Back to the calls,
we go gonna go to who's next here? Pattison, Weymouth,
pat you are next on Nightside, Go right ahead, Hi,
(32:57):
er hi Dot.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
I am from Buffalo, New York, and you had the
blizzard of seventy eight.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
We had hours as.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Seventy seven, and it's known as the Blizzard of seventy seven,
and it was the exact same circumstances. The city was paralyzed.
Cars were stranded on the throughway. There was one time
that I saw two buses that had pulled over. They
were almost flipped and the passengers were still on it.
(33:30):
People were out cross country skiing. There was there was
a bar close by and people were going in there
walking and some of the people from one of the
buses had gone to their bar to just wait it out,
I guess. And they brought ambulances in three ambulances and
(33:51):
all the passengers from the bus. They weren't injured, but
they that was the only, I guess, vehicle that could
get to them.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Wow, New York. Yeah, you guys have had some tough
snowstorms over the here's up there.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Yeah, I know, I know, but everybody talks about seventy
eight and I always talk about seventy seven. And a
personal story. I was twenty nine at the time I
worked downtown. I had a four year old daughter who
was in a daycare center. Of course, there's no cell phones,
and we could connect with I could connect with the
daycare center and obviously tell them I'm not going to
(34:29):
be there. And the kids were all there or stranded
because parents couldn't get there, and they were having There
was a pizza par a, pizza parallel right across the street,
and all they were eating was pizza. And I stayed
overnight at a friend's house two or three nights, and
then I was very anxious because I wanted to get
(34:51):
to my daughter. I wanted to get home. I wanted
to make sure she was okay. And a friend of
mine had a four wheel drive truck jeep, so he said,
come on, I'll give it a shot. So God love him.
He got me to the take care center and I
went in. I was the first parent there, and my
daughter didn't want any part of me. She was four
(35:15):
years old. She was hiving a ball. Yeah, you know,
run out on pizza. Pizza.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Oh that's great. So you've relocated to Boston, I.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Assume, right, yeah, about fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Uh, we'll watch you back to Boston. Why would you
ever leave a city like Buffalo, beautiful as it is, Richard.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
Hey, the Bills, I wish they were in the Super Bowl,
but Josh Hale and got moster MDP.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Yeah, no that I was written for you Bills. Maybe
next year. Maybe next year, keep one for Buffalo before
the Patriots get back together. Pat thank you so much
for calling. Have you ever call before? Now?
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Yeah, yes, I have. I called a couple of times.
I will just wanted to put in my regards.
Speaker 5 (36:04):
To the Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
All right, absolutely so, we got a lot of listeners
in Buffalo. Maybe we'll hear from someone next hour.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Okay, pegs bat yep, Okay, thanks a lot. Nice talking
to you.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Good to talk to you as well. Linda is in Waymouth. Linda,
I got a couple of minutes herefore, you want to
get you in under the wire. How are you hi?
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Pretty well?
Speaker 7 (36:23):
I can't believe how cold has been and windy combination.
And I went out looking for ice melt uh huh.
The only place I got it was from a auto shop.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Well, Lisia got some hopefully hopefully whatever hits uh, we'll
be gone in a few days. We'll have to see what.
Speaker 7 (36:44):
I shared around.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's gonna it's gonna be tough, but you're
you're in New England, are you you can handle it right?
Speaker 5 (36:53):
Ah?
Speaker 7 (36:54):
Yes, But I'm an older New Englander and.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
All older New Englanders at this point, but.
Speaker 7 (37:00):
I am a former skier and that you know. I
go into work or different places and I do a comparison.
I said, how many layers do you have? You can
always take off the layers if you put them on,
but you can't put on if you don't have them.
And I've seen guys, football player types, guys walking around
short sleeves and shorts on with the wind and the boo.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Yep, Okay, they won't be doing that tomorrow. I'll think.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
I've seen them. Anyways. My Blizzards of seventy eighth story
I remember seeing on the radio, from the radio on
the TV, the stories that pitches that the ladies have
spoken of. My story is that I worked at a
halfway center for special needs young people workshop and mine
(37:54):
was a clerical unit and we got dismissed. We weren't
I mean, I wasn't really expecting a big thing, so
I left what needed to be marked over, you know,
the home they worked. It was done during the day
I had to take I should have been taking it
home to correct it. At home, I said, I'll get
(38:16):
in tomorrow, arg you tomorrow, and it's not much here.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Probably a week later you corrected those papers, I will
bet exactly.
Speaker 7 (38:24):
And I was kicking myself and I said, oh my goodness,
I did get my cross country skis. I'm really a
downhill skier, but I did have a pair of cross
countries that I borrowed to go back and forth the
street and give some neighbors a hand with a shoveling.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Good for you, Good for you, Linda. I got you
under the wire, but I got the ten o'clock news
and we both got to get out of there. I mean,
thanks so much for Colin. We'll talk soon, okay, stay
stay good day, Thanks good night. Okay, we'll take a break.
If you're on the line, John, Florence Alis Terry, stay
there only line opened six. Let's keep talking about this
(39:00):
because hey, it's New England. We can talk about it
here on the North America's Backboarch coming back on nightside
right after the ten o'clock news,
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