ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A lot of St. Louisans and Metro East Residents will remember the great snow storm of 1982.  It was thirty years ago, on January 30 and 31, 1982.

At Lambert Airport the snow was coming down at a rate of two inches an hour according to the National Weather Service.  It started on a Saturday night on January 30th and lasted into Sunday.

Then for up to a week we were buried in upwards of twenty inches with drifts of six or more feet.  Businesses, schools, government offices were closed.

Thousands of motorists became stranded on interstates. Anyone with a four wheel drive vehicle was recruited to help shuttle emergency personnel.

The National Weather Service says meteorologists at T.V. and Radio Stations and Universities didnt predict it.  They all said that conditions were for only a few inches.

The weather service says the other ironic thing about the great snow storm of 1982 was that although many called it a blizzard , it didn’t meet the criteria , which is sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles-an-hour or greater and falling or blowing snow that reduces visibility to less than a quarter mile.

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