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The storm of 1982
Date: 1/31/2012 Album ID: 933973
Photos by Post-Dispatch staff photographers
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The nearly 14 inches of snow that fell the night of January 30, 1982, was the third-heaviest snowfall ever recorded in St. Louis, beaten only by 20.4 inches on March 30-31, 1890, and 15.5 inches on Feb. 20, 1912. Hundreds of motorists abandoned vehicles on highways and streets. Buses and heavy trucks got stuck in traffic lanes.
When people awoke on Jan. 31, 1982, to see the big snowstorm, the only way around for most of them was by foot, preferably in high and heavy boots. The forecast had been for only four inches, but the storm stalled over St. Louis and dumped 14 and more inches overnight Jan. 30-31. The official record was 13.9 inches at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, but the National Weather Service said most of St. Louis and southwest St. Louis County had 18 inches or more. This view of Lindell Boulevard, looking east from Newstead Avenue. (Bill Kesler/Post-Dispatch)
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Almost nobody got around on Jan. 31, 1982, or for many days after that. Here, a police car is stuck in the middle of Sarah Street, south of Lindell Boulevard. At right, people are trying to dig out a parked car. It was possible that day to dig around a car -- lots of people did -- but there was nowhere to go once the wheels were freed. (J.B. Forbes/Post-Dispatch)
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St. Louis refuse division workers help firefighters try to clear a way out for two fire trucks that got stuck on Feb. 1, 1982, at North Market Street and North Florissant Avenue. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch)
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Snowplows slowly fought their way through the streets and roads of the metro area, but there was just too much snow -- and too many abandoned vehicles -- to clear much of a path. This scene is of the 3300 block of Delmar Boulevard in the city, looking east, on Feb. 1, 1982. (Ted Dargan/Post-Dispatch)
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A man and his dog move carefully along a rare piece of cleared sidewalk on St. Louis Avenue, near North Florissant Avenue, north of downtown. Their path ahead offered more challenge. (J.B. Forbes/Post-Dispatch)
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Heavy snow collapsed a few roofs, including this one at Motor Transport Co., 3534 Gratiot Street. The view looks north toward St. Louis University and midtown. (Wayne Crosslin/Post-Dispatch)
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Drifts build around an overturned tractor-trailer on westbound Interstate 44 near the Allenton exit. (J.B. Forbes/Post-Dispatch)
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Missouri National Guard engineers brought their heavy equipment downtown to dig out the city's main streets. Here a front-end loader dumps snow from Tucker Boulevard, looking north, into a waiting dump truck. There weren't many places to just push aside that much snow. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch)
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The National Guard dump trucks hauled the snow down to the riverfront, dumping it along the cobblestone levee to await warmer temperatures or a rising river. (Robert LaRouche/Post-Dispatch)
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Another scene of buried cars and slow, uncertain transportation. This is of Arsenal Street at Benton Park, looking east. At left, a man tries to push a dug-out Volkswagen onto the crushed snow covering the street. In the background, others try to help a full size car move along. (Robert LaRouche/Post-Dispatch)
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A week after the storm, Forest Park remained buried beneath deep snow. A cross-country skier employs one of the few ways to get around. (J.B. Forbes/Post-Dispatch)
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Two weeks after the storm, two kids who had been sliding down the hill near the ballfields in Carondelet Park walk home along the Missouri Pacific (now Union Pacific) tracks. The view is looking south toward the Loughborough Avenue bridge. It took several days for sledders to pound the heavy snow hard enough for good sliding. (J.B. Forbes/Post-Dispatch)
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Students at the former Lafayette School, 815 Ann Avenue in Soulard, play on the piles of shoveled snow on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1982, the first day on which classes resumed for St. Louis public school students. Almost all schools stayed closed for the week after the Jan. 30-31 storm, and suburban districts began returning over the second week. City school board members said they were afraid that children could be hurt on the high drifts and piles along sidewalks. They certainly would be playing on them, as this scene proves. (Renyold Ferguson/Post-Dispatch)
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