Newscasters remember Blizzard of 78

TOLEDO --  Where were you, thirty years ago, today? If you lived in Northwest Ohio, chances are you were stuck inside because of the Blizzard of 78. Colleen Wells talked with some familiar faces who covered the storm.

30 years ago, it was the winter storm of the century. And for reporters in the news business, it was the story of a lifetime.

Joe Ashton delivered weather reports for WTOL for nearly twenty years. He passed away in 2001, but his wife Paula remembers the Blizzard of 78 like it was yesterday.

"I used to work part-time for the man down the street. I called his wife and said, tell the boss I won't be in the morning, because we're going to have a blizzard. Well how do you know that? I said, I'm married to the weather man! And she said, 'they're not always right,'" says Ashton.

But, Joe was right. More than a foot of snow, and wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour paralyzed Northwest Ohio.

WTOL's very own Dave Carlson remembers going to work, and staying for days.

"When the snow and wind came, we really didn't have much choice. We had to stay, and I think all of the stations were on almost 24 hours a day with the storm information because it was so serious."

It's the type of storm where everyone remembers were they were or where they were stuck. A storm so severe, a story so rich, it's one that can still be told, thirty years later.