A look back at the ‘blizzard’ of 1982 in St. Louis

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A look back at the ‘blizzard’ of 1982 in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – Thursday marks the anniversary of what is arguably the most memorable winter storm in modern St. Louis history.

The “Blizzard of ’82” started as rain on the evening of Jan. 30 but quickly switched over to heavy wet snow with multiple hours of thundersnow through the night. The original forecast called for 2-4 inches—what actually fell was closer to 24 inches.

Officially, Lambert St. Louis International Airport reported 13.9 inches, which is still the second heaviest snowfall on record and the most snow in more than 70 years.

The city was shut down for a week! Interstates were closed, and heavy equipment was brought in to move snow from the streets down to the Mississippi River.

Several years ago, I teamed up with the National Weather Service to see if our more sophisticated, much higher resolution, modern computer models could do a better job capturing the potential for heavy snow. The short answer is yes.

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The new era computer models forecast 14 to 16 inches of snow in exactly the right spot. A huge improvement over the 2 to 4 inches forecast in 1982.

Despite the name, the “Blizzard of 82” was not actually a blizzard.

To be a blizzard, a storm must have sustained winds or frequent gusts to 35+ mph, visibility of one-fourth of a mile or less in heavy snow or falling snow, and it has to last for three or more hours. The 1982 storm checks the boxes for visibility and duration, but it falls short on the winds with a top gust of only 26 mph.

So no, it was not an official blizzard, but it has been elevated to blizzard status by the court of public opinion—so it is more of a blizzard emeritus.

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