Man sits on chair in a shoveled out parking space in 1967.
A look back on some of Chicago's biggest snowstorms over the years. Here, a man sits on chair in a shoveled out parking space in 1967 — a time-honored Chicago tradition. Edward DeLuga / Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum

PHOTOS: A look back at some of Chicago’s gnarliest snowstorms

With severe winter weather in the Chicago area, here’s a look back at how residents battled the elements.

A look back on some of Chicago's biggest snowstorms over the years. Here, a man sits on chair in a shoveled out parking space in 1967 — a time-honored Chicago tradition. Edward DeLuga / Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum
By Courtney Kueppers
Man sits on chair in a shoveled out parking space in 1967.
A look back on some of Chicago's biggest snowstorms over the years. Here, a man sits on chair in a shoveled out parking space in 1967 — a time-honored Chicago tradition. Edward DeLuga / Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum

PHOTOS: A look back at some of Chicago’s gnarliest snowstorms

With severe winter weather in the Chicago area, here’s a look back at how residents battled the elements.

By Courtney Kueppers
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A major winter storm has descended on Chicago, with meteorologists predicting up to 12 inches of snow by Saturday morning and strong winds in conjunction with temperatures dropping on Sunday.

“Bitterly cold temperatures and wind chills are expected Saturday night through Tuesday night,” the National Weather Service in Romeoville wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

We dug into the archives to look back at some of Chicago’s biggest snow storms. In the all-time record book, a 1960s storm takes the top spot. Over the course of two days in January 1967, a staggering 23 inches fell in the city, with snow sometimes falling at a rate of two inches per hour and wind gusts reaching 53 mph, according to the weather service.

One man pushes a snowblower while two men pull with rope to clean the sidewalk after the blizzard of 1967 in Chicago.
One man pushes a snowblower while two men pull with rope to clean the sidewalk after the blizzard of 1967 in Chicago — the biggest snowstorm on record in the city. Chicago History Museum

The weather service theorizes the ’67 storm may have been the biggest disruption to commerce and transportation in the city since the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. And it would be decades before another storm even came close to dropping that much snow in the city, but in 1999 a whopping 21.6 inches fell right after the new year to take second place among the biggest snowstorms in Chicago history. Rounding out the top three is a storm that lives on in recent memory: the “Groundhog Day blizzard” — AKA Snowmageddon — of 2011 that stranded motorists on Lake Shore Drive.

During a snowstorm in January 1999, a woman leaves Lincoln Park after skiing at LaSalle and Clark streets in Chicago.
During a snowstorm in January 1999, a woman leaves Lincoln Park after skiing at LaSalle and Clark streets in Chicago. It was the second biggest snowstorm to ever hit Chicago. Al Podgorski / Chicago Sun-Times
A snowplow loaded with salt works on clearing Kinzie Street from snow early Wednesday February 2, 2011, after a night of blizzard conditions with heavy snow and high winds.
A snowplow loaded with salt works on clearing Kinzie Street from snow early on Feb. 2, 2011, after a night of blizzard conditions with heavy snow and high winds that would become Chicago’s third biggest snowstorm ever. Tom Cruze / Chicago Sun-Times

Here are Chicago’s 10 biggest snowstorms since 1886, according to NWS:

  • 23.0 inches on Jan. 26-27, 1967
  • 21.6 inches on Jan. 1-3, 1999
  • 21.2 inches on Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2011
  • 20.3 inches on Jan. 12-14, 1979
  • 19.3 inches on Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2015
  • 19.2 inches on March 25-26, 1930
  • 16.2 inches on March 7-8, 1931
  • 14.9 inches on Jan. 30, 1939
  • 14.9 inches on Jan. 6-7, 1918
  • 14.8 inches on Dec. 17-19, 1929
Commuters slog through the snow on Feb. 3, 2015 after 19 inches of snow fell in the days before
Commuters slog through the snow on Feb. 3, 2015 after more than 19 inches of snow fell in the days before — making it the fifth biggest snowfall in Chicago history. Al Podgorski / Chicago Sun-Times

Perhaps photos from yesteryear can provide a silver lining as we hunker down in this storm. Once the dangerous weather passes, a blanket of snow provides a chance to embrace winter just as Chiagoans before us have done by sledding down a hill, playing a snowy game of tennis or even taking a bike ride.

Two men play tennis in the snow at the Cabrini Green Tennis Courts, near 551 West Pearson Street.
Two men play tennis in the snow at the Cabrini Green Tennis Courts in 1976. Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum
Sledding at Horner Park in 1985.
Sledding at Horner Park in 1985. Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum
A man commutes on his bike in the snow, 1974.
A man commutes on his bike in the snow, 1974. Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum
A man worked to free his car from the snow near Schiller and Clark after the fifth largest snowfall hit the Chicago area on Feb. 2, 2015.
A man worked to free his car from the snow near Schiller and Clark after the fifth largest snowfall hit the Chicago area on Feb. 2, 2015. Al Podgorski / Chicago Sun-Times
After the 1979 snowstorm, the fourth biggest in Chicago history, a car is seen protected by snowbanks on three sides as it sits in its parking space on Armitage near Larrabee.
After the 1979 snowstorm, the fourth biggest in Chicago history, a car is seen protected by snowbanks on three sides as it sits in its parking space on Armitage near Larrabee. Kevin Horan / Chicago Sun-Times
Newspaper boxes sit in a snow bank, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011, in Chicago, after a blizzard dumped nearly 20 inches of snow on the area overnight, making it the third biggest snowstorm on record.
Newspaper boxes sit in a snow bank, on Feb. 2, 2011, in Chicago. By the time the storm was over, it became the third biggest on record. M. Spencer Green / Associated Press
Hundreds of cars are seen stranded on Lake Shore Drive, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 in Chicago.
Hundreds of cars are seen stranded on Lake Shore Drive, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 in Chicago. A winter blizzard of historic proportions wobbled an otherwise snow-tough Chicago, stranding hundreds of drivers for up to 12 hours overnight on the city’s showcase lakeshore thoroughfare and giving many city schoolchildren their first-ever snow day. Kiichiro Sato / Associated Press
Elizabeth Reyes, age 13, has written the word 'Spring' with her finger in the snow, Chicago, 1955.
Elizabeth Reyes, age 13, has written the word ‘Spring’ with her finger in the snow, Chicago, 1955. Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum

Courtney Kueppers is a digital producer/reporter at WBEZ. Follow her @cmkueppers.