Chicago's fourth worst snowstorm in city history occurred on January 13-14, 1979, and dumped a whopping 18.8 inches of snow on the city and suburbs. The monster blizzard was a natural disaster but a man-made catastrophe, due to the lack of plowing and planning after the storm.
After a couple of CTA buses sideswiped each other on a narrow section of Addison Street, near Sheridan Road, 13 buses and several cars got stuck in a snowbound traffic jam before things could be sorted out on Jan. 15, 1979. — Michael Budrys, Chicago Tribune
Two women walk through a blizzard in Chicago on Jan. 12, 1979. — Michael Budrys, Chicago Tribune
Cars are stuck in the roadway and covered with snow on Springfield Street at Augusta Blvd. after a major blizzard hit Chicago in January 1979. — Anne Cusack, Chicago Tribune
At State and Randolph Streets, commuters wait for buses that never seemed to arrive to carry them to their homes on the South Side. Some had waited an hour and 20 minutes on Jan. 15, 1979. — Luigi Mendicino, Chicago Tribune
Cars on North Mildred Avenue lie buried under the 18.8 inches of snow that fell on Jan. 12-13, 1979, the city's second-worst storm. — Charles Osgood, Chicago Tribune
People wear face masks to stay warm while walking through a blizzard at Foster Avenue on January 13, 1979. — Sally Good, Chicago Tribune
Standing in an icy drizzle, Chicagoans line up at State and Lake Streets on Jan. 19, 1979, to get aboard one of a caravan of CTA buses. — Arthur Walker, Chicago Tribune
People shovel in an alley at Harvey Avenue and Jackson Boulevard in Oak Park on Jan. 15, 1979. — Ernie Cox Jr., Chicago Tribune
Mayor Michael Bilandic, right, watches snow removal on LaSalle Street on December 31, 1978, just a few weeks before 18 more inches of snow hit Chicago. — Chicago Tribune
Even as the city plowed aside the snow on Lake Shore Drive on Jan. 12, 1979, more snow fell, making travel slow and hazardous. — Michael Budrys, Chicago Tribune
A motorist is stuck in a snow drift as a good samaritan comes to his rescue with a snow blower on January 2, 1979. In ten days the city of Chicago would get more than 20 inches of snow during the blizzard of 1979. — Bob Fila, Chicago Tribune
Shopping day was shopping day, with or without a car on Jan. 14, 1979. A group of undaunted Chicagoans trudges home with groceries along St. Louis Avenue near 71st Street. Side streets were clogged with snow as the city focused its efforts on trying to clear the main thoroughfares. — Don Casper, Chicago Tribune
As the blanket of snow swelled ever deeper, Snow Command trucks got rid of a little of it in the Chicago River on Jan. 24, 1979. — Charles Osgood, Chicago Tribune
Discovering a buried car that seems to have been parked on Stockton Drive in Lincoln Park for a long time, a policeman writes out a parking ticket on Jan. 23, 1979. The officer had to clear the snow away from the license plate to read the number. — Ernie Cox Jr., Chicago Tribune
A sidewalk on Sheffield Avenue, just south of Roscoe Street, is drifted shut on January 13, 1979. — Sally Good, Chicago Tribune
People were still digging out their cars on Jan. 29, 1979, and many side streets had not been plowed, like this one at Erie and Paulina Streets in Chicago. — Frank Hanes, Chicago Tribune
On the Douglas 'L' tracks at Ashland Avenue and Congress Expressway, workmen who can barely see because of the snow try to free a frozen switch that has halted service on the line on Jan. 24, 1979. — Frank Hanes, Chicago Tribune
Frustrated commuters line up to board emergency shuttle buses called out by the CTA at Howard Street after ice on the tracks shut down trains between Wilson Avenue and the Linden terminal in Evanston from 6 to 9:15 a.m. on Jan. 18, 1979. Some had waited hours in the bone-chilling cold. — Roy Hall, Chicago Tribune
When the sun finally broke through on Jan. 14, 1979, there were piles of snow sometimes 15 to 20 feet high, as seen here in Oak Park. — Anne Cusack, Chicago Tribune
In the 5200 block of N. Magnolia Avenue, residents are not waiting for the plows. Instead, residents turned the dig-out into a block party on Jan. 16, 1979. — Arthur Walker, Chicago Tribune
Chicago continues the battle against a huge snowstorm as a truck passes a car covered with snow from the great blizzard at Lawrence Avenue and Clark Street on Jan. 24, 1979. — Charles Osgood, Chicago Tribune
Snow pelts morning commuters waiting for alternate trains at the Belmont 'L' station on Jan. 24, 1979, while a disabled Ravenswood train stands by. — Michael Budrys, Chicago Tribune
A Chicagoan on the Northside of the city put a polite 'dibs' on their shoveled parking spot on Jan. 23, 1979. — Ernie Cox Jr., Chicago Tribune
Snowmobiles go where autos can't in a South Side neighborhood on January 14, 1979. — Don Casper, Chicago Tribune
Workers clear a rooftop in an industrial complex at Mannheim Road and Lawrence Avenue on Jan. 15, 1979, to prevent it from collapsing as many others did during the 1979 blizzard in Chicago. — Walter Kale, Chicago Tribune
Residents keeping their street clear of snow in the 900 block of North Leclaire in Chicago on Jan. 26, 1979. — John Bartley, Chicago Tribune
Autos in a car dealers lot on North Clark Street take on a ghost-like appearance after heavy snowfall on Jan. 14, 1979. — Don Casper, Chicago Tribune