The
blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in
one-room schoolhouses. The weather prediction for the day was issued by the
Weather Bureau, which at the time was managed by Brigadier General
Adolphus Greely. The indications officer (forecaster), Lieutenant Thomas Mayhew Woodruff in St. Paul, Minnesota, said: "A cold wave is indicated for Dakota and Nebraska tonight and tomorrow; the snow will drift heavily today and tomorrow in Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin." The blizzard was precipitated by the collision of an immense Arctic
cold front with warm moisture-laden air from the
Gulf of Mexico. Within a few hours, the advancing cold front caused a
temperature drop from a few degrees above freezing to [ in some places]. This wave of cold was accompanied by high winds and heavy
snow. The fast-moving storm first struck Montana in the early hours of January 12, swept through
Dakota Territory from midmorning to early afternoon, and reached
Lincoln, Nebraska, at 3 p.m. Many who were caught unaware misjudged the weather due to a warm spell. Carl Saltee, a teenage Norwegian immigrant in Fortier, Minnesota, remembered that "... on the 12th of January 1888 around noontime it was so warm it melted snow and ice from the window until after 1 p.m." This changed rapidly for the teenager who continued that by 3:30 p.m. "A dark and heavy wall built up around the northwest coming fast, coming like those heavy thunderstorms, like a shot. In a few moments, we had the severest snowstorm I ever saw in my life with a terrible hard wind, like a
Hurricane, snow so thick we could not see more than 3 steps from the door at times." What made the storm so deadly was the timing (during work and school hours), the suddenness of the storm, and the brief spell of warmer weather that preceded it. In addition, the very strong wind fields behind the cold front and the powdery nature of the snow reduced visibilities on the open plains to zero. People ventured from the safety of their homes to do chores, go to town, attend school, or simply enjoy the relative warmth of the day. As a result, thousands of people — including many schoolchildren — got caught in the blizzard. The death toll was 235, though some estimate 1,000. Teachers generally kept children in their schoolrooms. Exceptions nearly always resulted in disaster. This cold front was so self-reinforced that it dropped temperatures as far south as
Veracruz, Mexico, before dissipating. Travel was severely impeded in the days following. Two months later, yet another severe blizzard hit the
East Coast states: This blizzard was known as the
Great Blizzard of 1888. It severely affected the east coast, in states like New York and Massachusetts. == The stories ==