The National Weather Service said the winter was one of the coldest on record. They also recorded a snowdepth of 41 inches on January 30, 1978. 

"On the morning of the approaching storm, I noticed as I got into my truck, the wind was very calm, and the air felt funny. It had a damp feel to it. They say in Indiana, the sky is always clear before a big storm and on the day of the blizzard it was clear as it could be," Larry Mayer of Plymouth told the NWS. 

The bands of snow formed quickly on January 25. NWS said snow fell at a rate of one to two inches per hour with sustained winds up to 45 miles per hour.