The year is rapidly winding down ... seems like just yesterday we were fearing the start of the year 2000, and now we’re closing out 2010.

And yes, winter has started. The cold days and the snow we’ve already had won’t let us forget that.

So today we pulled a few photos from Reporter files to see how things looked back in the winter of 1979.

In one photo, students are bundled up against the cold and the snow as they walk to what was then Hancock Elementary School on Hancock Street, Lansdale.


This photo was shot in February 1979, and Hancock Elementary has since been transformed into the district offices for North Penn School District.

In the other more “artsy” photo, you see the freight yard off Fifth Street, Lansdale, near Walnut Street.


This photo was snapped in January 1979 and the tracks make for an interesting pattern in the snow.

So what weather are we facing in 2011? Maybe we should ask the groundhog.ctive caps.