By WARREN DILLAWAY - Staff Writer
As one of the balmiest Novembers on record comes to an end, area residents remember vastly different times.
It has been 13 years since the massive November snow storm of 1996 pounded northeastern Ohio. Chardon was hit with 70 inches of snow between Nov. 9 and Nov. 14 and Ashtabula had about four feet of snow clogging area streets for weeks.
This year only a few areas of the county have received more than a trace of snow.
“Fifty-two years ago on Thanksgiving we had an incredible blizzard,” said Ken Smith of Austinburg Township. Smith was 22 years old and home on leave from the Army in 1957 and went a little farther than his 200-mile limit for leave and almost paid the price.
The Kingsville area resident made the mistake of not respecting Mother Nature and narrowly missed being AWOL when snow hit on Thanksgiving, causing a long, slow drive back to Washington, D.C., where he got in just as “Reveille” was played.
Smith said he doesn’t really care about the cold weather. “Once I get done with yard work and the garden I don’t really care,” he said.
Laura Piette of Ashtabula remembers a bumper-to-bumper rush hour drive on a November several years ago. “It was slow going,” she said.
Piette said she is concerned about flowers and fruit with the relatively recent warm weather. “I have brand new buds on my roses,” she said.
As the old adage goes, if you don’t like the weather in Ohio wait five minutes it will change.
With one day left in November area residents may be waiting till Tuesday, when December barges onto the scene, to see more of the white stuff.
