February 6, 1978: The Northeast Blizzard of '78

That's Boston's New City Hall in the background.

February 6, 1978: A blizzard hits the Northeastern United States. The storm killed about 100 people, mostly in car crashes.

This came just 12 days after "The White Hurricane," the Midwest's version of the Blizzard of '78, struck the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes, killing 70 people.

The biggest snowfall hit Woonsocket, Rhode Island: 38 inches; or 3 feet, 2 inches. Records for snowfall hit Boston with 27 inches; Providence, Rhode Island with 27 inches; and Atlantic City with 20 inches.

Not records, but bad enough: New York, 20 inches; Hartford, Connecticut, 17 inches; Philadelphia, 16 inches; Baltimore, 12 inches. Washington, D.C. was comparatively lucky: Only 4 inches.

February 6 was the date scheduled for the annual Beanpot Tournament, contested between hockey teams from 4 local colleges in Boston: Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, and Northeastern University. But instead of postponing the tournament, it was played on February 6. The 11,666 fans who showed up actually got more hockey than they expected: The opening game went to overtime, and Harvard beat Northeastern, 4-3. In the nightcap, BU beat BC, 12-5.

And they couldn't get out. They were snowed in. They were stuck in the Boston Garden. Fortunately, there were bathrooms inside -- even if they were the kind of bathrooms you would expect in an arena that opened in 1928. And there was food inside, as the concession stands remained open until it ran out. The Celtics' famed parquet floor was put down over the ice, to provide sleeping space. Even the locker rooms were opened, to provide more.

The next day, the Garden was dug out, and people were able to leave. Traditionally, the Beanpot is held on the 1st and 2nd Mondays in February. This time, the 2nd round wasn't held until Wednesday, March 1: BC beat Northeastern, 3-2 in overtime; and BU won the tournament, beating Harvard, 7-1.

If Boston sports fans thought February 1978 was rough, they hadn't seen nothin' yet. The Celtics had the worst season, record-wise, in their history. The Bruins lost the Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Sox led the American League Eastern Division by 9 1/2 games, and were 14 games ahead of the arch-rival New York Yankees, then collapsed, and lost a Playoff for the Division title on October 2. And the Patriots won the AFC East title, but fell out of the Playoffs when they lost at home on New Year's Eve to the Houston Oilers.

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February 6, 1978 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA was in it's All-Star Break, holding the Game the day before, with the East beating the West, 133-125 at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta.

Only 1 NHL game was scheduled: The Philadelphia Flyers beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. And there were no games scheduled in the World Hockey Association.