Snowstorms like this week’s tend to stick in people’s heads for a long time. 1967 and 1979 live in infamy, as each wreaked havoc on the city and people’s lives.

Most everything in the city shut down Wednesday in the storm’s wake, as we tried to dig out of the two feet of snow Mother Nature had dropped on our doorstep. Even this newspaper couldn’t publish, since our printing press lost power (hope you enjoy your one-time only Friday extra edition)

The city tried to be ready as best it could as we collectively girded for the impact. Nearly 400 snow-clearing vehicles were ready to hit the streets — including 120 garbage trucks converted to plows.

For god’s sake, the Chicago Fire Department pulled 50 snowmobiles — a move that seemed like folly Tuesday afternoon, but totally logical foresight by Wednesday morning.

Tom Skilling was all over this storm last week, predicting it with his own unique meteorologist’s blend of giddy excitement and foreboding warnings.

Yes, the city knew this was coming — and we knew almost exactly when it was coming, too.

Nevertheless, there was disaster. A few successive accidents on Lake Shore Drive crippled Chicago’s favorite limited-access highway, leaving motorists stranded overnight, running out of gas.

People have second-guessed the city’s decision to leave the Drive open, since earlier in the day they had cautioned people against using it.

But many of those earlier warnings had revolved around the 25-foot waves forecasted at the lakefront, none of which seemed to actually affect Lake Shore Drive itself. Instead, the gridlock was caused by a succession of plain old crashes that just happened to occur right next to each other.

This could have happened on any other freeway in Chicago. It just happened to be right there on the lake front.

Wednesday-morning quarterbacks, infuriated about having to abandon their cars on the Drive, said the city should have shut the road down long before. We think hindsight’s 20-20, and with that argument, all the city’s highways should have been shut down.

The city should be commended for its commitment to cleaning up the road, and for letting those who abandoned their cars come back to pick them up for free.

Also, about those snowmobiles: We’re all for them, as long as they take Chicago Journal for a ridealong in the next snowstorm. We’re waiting for your call.