Chicago folk have always been a hardy breed. Long before our Founding in 1833, the group of fur trappers, traders and businessmen had to be ready for a lot.
Fortunately, the Indians had been re-settled West of the Mississipi River but the mud and the elements remained a real challenge.
The Army Corps of Engineers took care of the mud, after most Chicago business had raised the sidewalks and buildings on stilts. You can still see evidence of this in the many basement apartments that dot the Near North and West Sides. But the confluence of the Great Lakes and the position of the City has always made for memorable winters.
Here are some of the best:
1. 23.0 inches Jan 26-27, 1967 - I was 16 and had a good friend who lived a half-block away. We used to cut through the Alley to go to each other's house but there were six foot snow drifts in the Alley - we spent four hours and dug a path through it all. You can do that sort of thing when you are Sixteen!
2. 21.6 inches Jan 1-3, 1999 - Never to be forgotten. I lost my home in 1999 and was forced to stay in a Homeless Shelter. When the snow began this day I was eight blocks away at Logan Square Group #5 waiting for our morning AA Meeting - where I was each morning. By noon it was obvious no one could get around, so I went back to the Shelter - THANK God the Minister who can the Shelter had it open. It took two weeks for the streets to return to normal.
3. 21.2 inches Feb. 1-2, 2011 - Anotherinnightmare for drivers, but I did not have to suffer through it and our North Side streets were clear in two days.
4. 20.3 inches Jan 13-14, 1979 - At 18 years of age, the fascination with the Alley walkway was gone so the City handled it all.
5. 19.2 inches Mar 25-26, 1930 Merely Twinkle in my fathers eye.
6. 16.2 inches Mar 7-8, 1931
7. 15.0 inches Dec 17-20, 1929
8. 14.9 inches Jan 30, 1939
9. 14.9 inches Jan 6-7, 1918
10. 14.3 inches Mar 25-26, 1970 - My dad picked me up on the way home from his office - it took us THREE HOURS to get from Michigan and Congress to North and Pulaski - down Grand Avenue.
So LET IT SNOW!
It's just another day in
#CHICAGO!
