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How the blizzard of '78 changed the way we deal with winter storms today

BOSTON — The winter storm that all others have been compared to turned 40 years old on Tuesday, Feb. 6.

Over the course of two days, New Englanders experienced hurricane-force winds, blinding snow and devastating floods.

Snow started falling on Feb, 6 1978 and left New England in chaos for days after the flakes stopped falling.

A brutal storm that not only made history, but also marked the lives of hundreds of people, who, to this day, pray it'll never happen again.

Boston 25 News' meteorologist Kevin Lemanowicz met with meteorologists who lived through the blizzard of '78 to understand why the storm had such a devastating impact and compare it to the last few blizzards we've seen.

National Weather Service Director Dr. Louis Uccellini wrote the definitive book on Northeast storms, and he says, this one was like no other.

"It wasn't just the snow and the duration of the storm, but the incredible winds," Dr. Uccellini said.

Because the storm started a few hours later than expected, many people headed off to work.

The sudden and heavy impact of the storm left thousands of New Englanders trapped, including meteorologists.

Retired weather service meteorologist Harry Terban was one of thousands who was forced to abandon his car on 128.

"I came to the conclusion that the only way I was gonna get back home was to walk, so I walked 3 and a half miles back to the house," said Terban.

Terban says people were a lot more optimistic about storms back then, but the blizzard of '78 changed all of that.

In total, 99 people died in New England, some of them of carbon monoxide poisoning in their cars.

In fact, that's one of the main reasons why travel bans are more common in big winter storms today.

"(It was) arguably the biggest storm of our lives, we ran out of food after two days, we ran out of black coffee after four days," said Brad Field, a former broadcast meteorologist.

Thankfully, technology helps meteorologists forecast storms ahead of time today, and the fact that we're able to prepare for them is literally life-saving.

In regards to impact, even after 40 years, meteorologists who lived through the blizzard of '78 say, it measures up.

"For what this did in terms of coastal damage, what the tides did, what the waves did for the homes in Massachusetts, it absolutely holds up as the benchmark storm," said Field. "(We got) 50 inches of snow."