Minnesota blizzard of 1984

Joseph James

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Interesting video. If we have members that dealt with this, it would be interesting to hear about your experience.

 
I remember my dad cross country skiing to the hardware store a mile away, and the plows didn't come for two days. We lived in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and the county's and cities had plenty in their budgets for manpower. We got a lot of snow in a little time.
 
I remember my dad cross country skiing to the hardware store a mile away, and the plows didn't come for two days. We lived in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and the county's and cities had plenty in their budgets for manpower. We got a lot of snow in a little time.
I can’t imagine what it would be like. People in the video couldn’t see to drive and said it was so cold the car engine couldn’t produce heat.
 
I am a Minnesota VIKINGS fan -- and (not these last two years...), But, I used to get out to the Land of the Purple (and will again) once a year for a game...
Even just four or five years ago, We swore off going in December ever again!!!! Snow, blizzards, severe cold, winds, it was BRUTAL !!!!
Real temperature was 15° below -- wind chill was
60° below... There were radio warnings to stay inside.
They warned us to check our extremities ( "wiggle your fingers & toes after 15 minutes outside" they warned)....
We went to a Timblewolves - Rockets game, sat courtside for $ 10 Saturday nite !!!! Went to TGIFs after the game for a meal after the game. We went out the wrong side, by accident, and the door locked behind us...We had to walk around the Target Center Mall to the rental car.... You could not suck in enough air to breathe walking backwards into the wind....
All our future games will be in October or November once car show season is over !!!!!!
 
Sorry, I was out of town for this one. I think in Idaho at the time, USN. The one I remember was the three dayer, March 2-5 1966. We had some awesome snowbanks in our yard when that one ended - tunnels galore for my sister and I.
 
Sorry, I was out of town for this one. I think in Idaho at the time, USN. The one I remember was the three dayer, March 2-5 1966. We had some awesome snowbanks in our yard when that one ended - tunnels galore for my sister and I.
That video was fascinating to me. I have been through a few hurricanes but the blizzard sounds a lot worse. The insanely cold temperatures. The one guy said to tie a rope to your car so you could find your way back to it. Must be tough people to live in such a harsh environment.
 
Hurricanes are no fun either, I've been through a couple and not all that bad, but I haven't gone through an Andrew or a Katrina either.
 
Jesus , when we get an Alberta clipper you know you're only gonna get 3-4 inches. More of a nuisance storm if nothing else ...
 
I am a Minnesota VIKINGS fan -- and (not these last two years...), But, I used to get out to the Land of the Purple (and will again) once a year for a game...
Even just four or five years ago, We swore off going in December ever again!!!! Snow, blizzards, severe cold, winds, it was BRUTAL !!!!
Real temperature was 15° below -- wind chill was
60° below... There were radio warnings to stay inside.
They warned us to check our extremities ( "wiggle your fingers & toes after 15 minutes outside" they warned)....
We went to a Timblewolves - Rockets game, sat courtside for $ 10 Saturday nite !!!! Went to TGIFs after the game for a meal after the game. We went out the wrong side, by accident, and the door locked behind us...We had to walk around the Target Center Mall to the rental car.... You could not suck in enough air to breathe walking backwards into the wind....
All our future games will be in October or November once car show season is over !!!!!!

You could come out to Lambeau in December or January where real football is played and actually watch the game outside for over 3 hours with a cold beer in your hand, in addition to tailgating beforehand and going to/from the game in those same conditions. In Green Bay, they announce the temperature at the start of game time and people cheer louder the colder it is and the arrival of snow during the game also usually brings a cheer as well!
 
I was too young to remember this, there was many blizzards in Minnesota over my 40 years. The 93 blizzard is one the stands out in my mind.
 
The 2nd weekend in January of '78 stands out in my mind. I spent what seemed like ah whole frickin' week in Moorhead, Mn. that weekend. Two thermometers on the out side wall going into the fuel desk at the 76 Truck Stop (where they were rationing #1 to 25 gallons per 24 hours) One of those thermometers was an up 'n down type, the other was round. Saturday morning 'bout 06:30 My 350 stumbled and died and I'd had the RPMs set @ 1500. When I stumbled my way into the fuel desk I looked at both those thermometers. One said -40F and the other said -41F. 7 of we Big Riggerz standing there lookin' stupid took a vote on how fast we thought the wind waz blowin' and our votes averaged out to 25MPH. The wind chill chart they had taped to the fuel desk brings that number to -96F. We heard that A.M. on local radio that morning that La Crosse hit -65F actual. The good thing? The 76 had just completed construction on an 8 Bay garage that was deep enough to hold tractor and wagons and they had 4 Brand Spankin' New Salamanders 'bout the size of 55 gallon drums with an inside the shop #1 fuel pump, lol. We called a Big Rig Wrecker from across the river in Fargo. He showed up and pulled the 1st of use thru' the pumps and left turned it into the bay and the bill was $250. We started throwing snow balls at him and calling him nasty names, took up a collection paid the greedy SOB and sent him packing back across the river. The rest of us waited turns for the thaw out and fuel filter swap then we'd go out the back overhead door come back into the parking lot and hook another one and drag them thru' the pumps into a bay and so on 'til we had everybody up and running again. Total cost to we original 7? 'Bout $40 ah piece, and a good time waz had by all. Me? After heading up to Winnipeg on Monday and dropping the load and then dead heading back down into Fargo to reload I spent the next 13 days between there and down thru' Mn, Wi, Il, In. Oh, & Mi where the warmest it got waz -17 for that time frame. Ask me of I remember that turn, Jer
 
Yesterdays 10" of snow was difficult enough until I found this...… I remember the ice storm of 1977 and Blizzard in 1978.

12 Horrific Winter Storms That Have Gone Down In Wisconsin History
Pete, You beat me to it. You mentioned the Blizzard of '78 before I could finish my little book, But You were obviously in the Neighborhood that January, lol. Between '42 and '53? I was camping out in Mauston and the white crap was so deep one of those yearz shortly after the War ended that I could and did walk out my upper bedroom window and across the front porch roof and off into the snow drift. Google Search "Operation Hay Lift" and we'll both know for sure which year. Stay warm Pal, Jer
 
For the Blizzard of '78 I was a Junior in High School. Even though I had a car, I rode my bicycle the 15 blocks to school, lunch and home. That day I left before they closed school and remember two feet of snow already at 0600. That was the beginning of several days off. Life basically stopped. I still remember a police officer having a picture of his '77 LeMans squad that looked like he was in a tunnel. The snow was so deep that the big Oshkosh AWD plows could not get thru without the huge multi tier snowblower on the front.

1951-52_Oshkosh_W-700-15_Snowblower-dec7b.jpg


1959OshkoshSsnowblower.jpg


The Oshkosh, The Truck of Trucks
 
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Farz I know Shawano Iz still clearing their streetz with those Multi Tier Blowerz. They'll use single sweepers on the front of 4WD tractors and sweep the side walks into the gutters and then they'll do north and south laps from the gutters 'til they get it all in the center lane and then break out the double tier units that have a 24" blower tubes that have a rise and bend in an arch high enough to fit over the side rails of the 6-8 yard dump trucks that moves along with the blower and other dump trucks waiting in line when the full one heads north out of town where they have a staging area that they can back right up the the edge of the wolf river and send it all toward Lake Michigan. First time I saw the set up in motion was in late January 1968. Fence posts were completely hidden that time so it was fun coming into town after dark that trip but you could still see the telephone polls to kinda let you know where you were lol, Jer
 
For me, it was both 77 and 78, two years that I will never forget. I lived about 45 miles south of Erie, PA so 78 was much worse for us, this scene is from Buffalo in 77 but this was the scene all over Western NY and NW PA.

Blizz77.10571-1100x523.jpg

Buffalo Red Cross looking for people trapped in their cars - 1977
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Buffalo 1977

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If memory serves, this was around Buffalo also.


blizpic2.jpg

Ohio got it worse in 78, Wood County OH, not an overpass, this is someone's house where they dug out the garage - 1978

1977 Storm map
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1978 Storm map
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If you notice, the snow fall totals aren't that excessive, it's the wind that makes a blizzard and 10 inches of snow can translate into 20' of drifted snow.

The snow piled up on each side of the driveway was so high for about 15 feet from the road, on each side that you could barely reach the top with a shovel. After the plows made it through our road, we dug tunnels from the road to the field, then caves back into the snow that the plows had pushed off the road. Hind sight, that was a monumentally bad idea but when you're young and "indestructible", you don't think of all the things that could go wrong. Similar to this pic.
12553001_1717443651820293_5134793147931886993_n-700x877.jpg
 
For me, it was both 77 and 78, two years that I will never forget. I lived about 45 miles south of Erie, PA so 78 was much worse for us, this scene is from Buffalo in 77 but this was the scene all over Western NY and NW PA.

View attachment 352011
Buffalo Red Cross looking for people trapped in their cars - 1977
View attachment 352012
Buffalo 1977

View attachment 352013
If memory serves, this was around Buffalo also.


View attachment 352014
Ohio got it worse in 78, Wood County OH, not an overpass, this is someone's house where they dug out the garage - 1978

1977 Storm map
View attachment 352015


1978 Storm map
View attachment 352016


If you notice, the snow fall totals aren't that excessive, it's the wind that makes a blizzard and 10 inches of snow can translate into 20' of drifted snow.

The snow piled up on each side of the driveway was so high for about 15 feet from the road, on each side that you could barely reach the top with a shovel. After the plows made it through our road, we dug tunnels from the road to the field, then caves back into the snow that the plows had pushed off the road. Hind sight, that was a monumentally bad idea but when you're young and "indestructible", you don't think of all the things that could go wrong. Similar to this pic.
View attachment 352017
70 people died!? That’s serious stuff.
 
I worked with a guy that was moving into an apartment in Grand Forks, ND that weekend in 1984. He said that it started out as such a nice day that they were just wearing t-shirts and jeans. He carried a box 10 feet from the truck to the apartment. When he left the truck it was "a nice day". He set down the box and heard a guy that had just gone out to the truck yell. He looked out the window and said he couldn't see the truck. It went from a nice day to a complete total white-out blizzard.
 
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