MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Brian Watson, a Twin Cities meteorologist as he reflects on the deadly 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard. Watson compares Halloween Blizzard of 1991 as another highly memorable weather event.
“The Armistice Day Blizzard” is the defining blizzard of the 20th century in Minnesota and remains the storm against which all other blizzards in this state are compared to. It is infamous for how quickly the temperature dropped, followed by white out conditions and massive amounts of snow. The deaths and havoc from storm were due in part from a lack of accurate forecasting. The forecast structure changed afterward, with a greater emphasis on local forecasting, rather than a regional system.
Lore has claimed it as “The Halloween Blizzard,” and Minnesotan memories and tales have only increased with the passage of time. Snow started falling on the morning of October 31, 1991. By midnight, the storm had dumped 8.2 inches of snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, breaking the record for the most snow on that date. By the time it was all done three days later, the storm had dumped more than 2 feet of snow in the Twin Cities and 3 feet in Duluth. The North Shore city’s 36.9-inch snowfall set a record at the time as the largest single snowstorm total for Minnesota.
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CATHY WURZER: The Armistice Day blizzard of November 11 and 12, 1940, has often been pegged as one of the state's largest and most deadly. Dozens of people died in the storm after being caught unprepared.
Bruce Watson, a Twin Cities meteorologist, was a youngster at the time of the blizzard. And he says, one thing he'll remember most about the storm wasn't the aftermath. It's what came before.
BRUCE WATSON: At the time, I lived in Eau Claire. I was born and raised in Eau Claire. And I walked over to my grandmother's house. And the temperature was 55 degrees, beautiful. And, of course, a lot of duck hunters were out. And something like 50 people perished in the storm because it was such a beautiful day beforehand in Western Wisconsin.
CATHY WURZER: Watson says warning systems are better nowadays, but the weather conditions surrounding both the Armistice Day blizzard, and this most recent one are similar.
BRUCE WATSON: The warmer areas, the more water can hold. So when you have warm air like, we have now and like, we have in April, you can hold lots of moisture, and that can produce lots of snow.
CATHY WURZER: The Armistice Day blizzard dumped almost 17 inches of snow in Minnesota. And while the Halloween 1991 storm now holds the record for total snowfall amounts, the November 1940 storm still holds one record. Watson says, when melted down, the snow in the 1940 storm was the equivalent of almost 3 and 3/4 inches of water.
Still, Watson says, this 1991 super storm will stick in the minds of many.
BRUCE WATSON: This storm will probably be the most memorable storm in the lives of most people alive today. It occurred so early in the year. Occur starting on Halloween is very, very early for any kind of a major snowstorm and for a storm of this size. It's the all-time champion. And I think it's going to be hard to beat.
Even the young people today, probably, will never see a big storm like this so early in the year.
CATHY WURZER: Watson says, Minnesota usually receives its first big snowfall around November the 20th. By the way, if Watson is correct, the snowfall will go quite a way in reaching his 1992 winter snowfall prediction of 60 inches. I'm Cathy Wurzer.