FRANKLIN, Mass.

THIRTY YEARS AGO today, New England was brought to its knees when “The Blizzard of the Century” roared up the coast and stalled over the region. Hurricane-force winds, two to four feet of snow, and a coastal storm surge caused death and destruction not seen since Hurricane Carol, in 1954. And then there were the cars, thousands of them, trapped in gridlock extending for miles on both back roads and major highways.

On that day, Monday, Feb. 6, the first snowflakes arrived in southeastern New England at roughly 10 a.m. Rather than starting off slow, the storm caught people off guard by hitting with almost full force.

Snow accumulated quickly and nervous office workers looked out windows during lunch and began to realize that this was indeed a storm to be reckoned with. Those who had access to radios and TV would learn that the forecast for heavy snow had been upgraded to blizzard and some workers had had the foresight to head home immediately rather than wait for official office-closing announcements. By 1 p.m. snow was starting to drift on the streets and winds were blowing up to 40 miles an hour.

Most offices began releasing workers beginning at 2 p.m., and the mass exodus was on. Commuters who took buses, trains and subways flocked to their respective stations, jamming the transit systems. Wind whipped the snow furiously, and conditions for pedestrians became unsafe as people walked with their backs to the wind or hunched over, trying to make progress as the wind-driven ice crystals stung exposed faces. Some pedestrians hung onto light posts and street signs to keep from skidding into the street.

Conditions on the roadways were quickly becoming impassible. Disabled cars soon narrowed both side streets and major highways, and plows, already having difficulty keeping the blowing snow off roadways, were now impeded by the thousands of motorists who desperately tried to get home. Traffic came to a standstill.

Some people waited in their cars for help, and others abandoned their vehicles, heading into the nearest town or nearest home looking for shelter. Drivers who stayed in their cars later related their fears that the snow would cover their vehicles and they would never be found.

The most intense period of snow fell in the early evening, with snow falling at a clip of three inches an hour. For those commuters still in their cars the night was lonely and terrifying, as they tried to keep warm while wondering if they would be found in time. People would stop and start their engines, trying to save fuel to power the heater. Most remembered to step outside and clear the exhaust pipe every so often. Each time this was done the driver would be covered with snow, then return to the car where the snow would melt, soaking their clothes in the cold darkness. Hypothermia became a real danger.

Beginning on Monday night and into Tuesday, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts State Troopers and National Guardsmen tried to check every stuck car on the highways. In a few cases, the troopers and guardsmen got there too late, discovering a frozen body, a victim of carbon-monoxide poisoning.

* * *

A lot has changed since 1978. We have GPS systems mounted on our dashboards. We have cell phones in our cars. We have SUVs with 4-wheel drive. So when we are stranded in traffic we can now look at our GPS and confirm we’re not going anywhere, call loved ones on the cell phone and scream in frustration, and wonder why we purchased a big SUV when much of the time it sits idling.

As you might have guessed, I’m not very optimistic about our ability to handle snowfall in metropolitan areas, especially when it falls during the working hours on a weekday. To illustrate my point, just look at the situation on Dec. 13, 2007.

Some 8 to 10 inches of snow fell in the Boston area. This was a “normal” snowstorm by New England standards, and certainly nowhere near a blizzard. Yet the roadways around Boston seized up, and thousands of commuters were stuck in traffic for several hours, some drivers spending 45 minutes to go a single city block. Many abandoned their cars, making the paralysis worse.

The Providence area fared little better, with students marooned in school buses stuck in traffic well into the evening. And it’s not as if this storm came out of the blue: Snowfall was close to the amount most meteorologists forecasted and it fell during the predicted period.

Technology and forecasting have improved but human nature has not. We — and our employers — still have a herd mentality. Once we realize that the snow means business we want out of the office, and usually the employers comply, opening the floodgates of commuters all at once, and almost never before lunch.

During the Blizzard of ’78 those floodgates opened at 1 p.m., which is precisely the same time motorists starting jamming the roads in the December 2007 storm.

Now imagine if we get hit with a storm at just half the strength of the Blizzard of ’78. It’s not a pretty picture. With all of our advancements in communications, meteorological forecasting and highway improvements, we will still have dangerous gridlock if a storm hits during the work day.

Politicians, along with state and city planners, are looking at ways to alleviate the crush of commuters flooding the roadways during a mass exodus from their offices, but my bet is that no amount of planning can prevent a nightmare commute. It’s been 30 years since the Blizzard of ’78, and no one has figured out a good solution (besides workers’ staying home). And of all the factors that have changed in those years, the one that is most disturbing is that there are simply a lot more cars on the road.

So when snow is called for and you feel you need to drive, pack food, water, blankets and a flashlight. And you may just want to have a good book sitting in your car.

You might be there a while.

Michael Tougias is the author of three books about New England storms: Fatal Forecast, Ten Hours Until Dawn and The Blizzard of ’78.