Dale’s Daily Data: Schoolchildren’s Blizzard

It’s considered one of the worst blizzards in history.  It’s sometimes called the "Schoolchildren’s Blizzard" that killed 235 people, many of them children on their way home from school in the upper plains. The storm came without warning, with the temperature dropping nearly 100 degrees in just 24 hours.

It had been unusually warm from Montana east to the Dakotas and south to Texas the day before, but suddenly, within a few hours, Arctic air from Canada pushed south.  Temperatures plunged to 40 below zero in much of North Dakota.  And along with high winds and heavy snow the visibility was near zero.

Most victims of the blizzard were children heading home from school in rural areas and adults working on large farms because they had such a long way to get home.  One teacher in Nebraska knew the conditions were treacherous and kept his 17 students at school when the storm began. They stayed overnight, burning wood to keep warm. The next day, parents made their way over five-foot snow drifts to reach the school.  Another teacher led her children to shelter after the storm tore the roof off their one-room schoolhouse.  There were others who weren’t so lucky.  One teacher tried to lead three children to the safety of her home, less than 90 yards away, but they got lost in the storm and the children died.  The teacher lost her feet to frostbite.

It happened on this date, January 12 in 1888.

SOURCE: Weather Channel