Snowed In, Chicago-Style: Our Audience Remembers the City’s Biggest Blizzards

Snow is a fact of life here in Chicago, and everyone’s got a story. We asked you to share your memories of the city’s snowiest days in connection with Chicago Stories: Legendary Blizzards, and you delivered. Here’s a look back, through your words and photos, at the snowfalls whose memories lingered long after the ice melted. For our audience, three winters in particular stood out.

Memories from “The Big Snow of ’67”

John from Lakewood shared this photo from his childhood neighborhood of Edgewater – and the classic, youthful excitement of waking up to a snow day: 

“I was 9 years old when the Big Snow of ’67 hit. I remember it like yesterday. I remember waking up to no school. We ran our sled down the front steps. My mom took my four-year-old brother up to the Jewel in the sled to buy groceries. It was a wonderful time for kids.”

Richard from Oak Forest wishes he had a camera on hand for his childhood memory:

"In the aftermath of the Blizzard of 1967, my family lived in an apartment near Western Avenue and Fullerton Ave. My brothers Henry Jr. (10), Zygi (9), and I (6), got it in our heads to scale the fence, climb up the embankment, and check out the Kennedy Expressway. The picture in my mind is as clear as if it were yesterday: For as far as you could see in both directions north and south, there was not a vehicle in sight and all the lanes were blanketed by 3 feet of snow. The three of us managed to get about halfway across, trudging through snow up to our chests when we decided it might be good idea to turn around. We arrived home half-frozen, and needless to say our mother threw a fit yelling about what the hell was wrong with us. It's funny now, but it took about an hour for us to thaw out and then being ordered to take hot baths for good measure. I wish I had a camera with me because that would be an epic photograph of a moment literally frozen in time."

Kevin from Elgin shared this sweet memory of his brother, who extended kindness to strangers:

“In 1967, we lived in Keeneyville just off of Lake Street. Our area was mostly corn fields and farms. When the snow hit and the streets were clogged with cars and snow, my older brother, (he was 14) saddled up one of our horses, packed his saddle bags with sandwiches and filled thermoses with coffee and hot chocolate. He was out all night finding stranded commuters and gave them food and warm drinks.”

Diane from Berwyn shared this photo and memory: 

“My dad and I went walking all around the West Side of Chicago, where we lived, after the Big Snow in January 1967, when I was 13 years old. He was a quite competent amateur photographer, with his own darkroom in the basement of our Austin home, where he developed and printed his photos. The whole area we explored was so still, with stranded cars and no traffic. We could walk right down the middle of busy streets, like Washington Boulevard. Here’s a photo of me at age 13 on a huge snow pile, taken by my dad, John M. Callahan, Sr., in front of our home on Lorel Avenue on a huge snow pile after The Big Snow of 1967. A kid’s dream!”

Gene said: 

“The ’67 blizzard fell in the two days before my tenth birthday. My favorite memory is of my dad and me taking my sled to a neighborhood dairy bottling plant (remember those?) to pick up milk, bread, and a few other staples from their storefront.”

Maxx was ten years old during the ’67 Blizzard:

“We were out of school for a week and I personally saw people taking their sled to the bank or store. I remember ditching a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry and walking out on a frozen Lake Michigan. Our faces, hats, and scarves were frosted with icy spray. I remember walking around a corner downtown and having a snowy blast literally blow my breath away and I had to hold my mitten over my face to breathe.”

The 1979 Blizzard

Phillip from Naperville shared this fun memory and photo:

“When I was home from college in January 1979, there was a big snowstorm. Because it hit on a Friday night, all the men were home on Kilbourn and they went with shovels from one end of the block to the other. My dad and I joined them. It was fun to have such an accomplishment. After we were done, everyone went back to their homes and brought back a bottle of wine. So we had an impromptu party in the middle of the street with the bottles shoved into a snow bank.”

Gene also remembered the ’79 blizzard:

“I had been living in Carbondale for a few years, and was on my way through Chicago, moving to Madison with everything I owned in a small U-Haul trailer. The weight of the snow collapsed the entire roof of our block-long, 62-lane bowling establishment, where I had worked as a teen.”

Diana couldn’t get home from work:

“I was working for Time magazine downtown in the Time-Life building at 541 Fairbanks Court. We were unable to get home, so Time, Inc. set us up at the hotel across the street for two days and paid for our meals.”

Adriana shared this cute childhood memory:

“I remember not having school and sleeping over at my grandma’s house with all my cousins. We would slide down the stairs filled with snow. It was the best time ever!”

The “Snowmaggedon” of 2011

Adriana’s memory of the 2011 blizzard was a bit more intense:

“We drove to work downtown that day. My cousins and I were in a little Honda Civic on Lake Shore Drive praying to get home safe. Luckily, we left early. We would take turns to get out and clean the windshield because the snow was too heavy for the wipers. We were so lucky, we all made it home safely.”

Omar was a sophomore in high school in 2011:

“CPS never canceled classes due to inclement weather. When they announced that they were going to cancel classes, I knew it was something serious. The drive home from school, which was usually 30 minutes, was 4 hours. The snow was so high off the ground, I couldn’t see our car parked outside. My father and I spent hours shoveling while the snow was falling. I had no idea at the time that I was living through a unique moment in Chicago history.”