The Blizzard of 1888: When the Children Got Trapped

Uncover the gripping tale of the 1888 Children’s Blizzard, a day when unseasonable warmth turned deadly. Discover the heroic acts and tragic stories that forever changed the American Midwest.
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[@brazillady5119]

My great grandmother was in this blizzard as a child. Her father was the teacher. Grandma went to school wearing just a light jacket. At some point my great great grandfather saw dark clouds in the distance. He recognized them as storm clouds and sent everyone home. Everyone in his school made it home in time and survived.

[@CindyCarlson-th3ns]

Law of the pendulum When weather is unseasonably good one day the next may be equally as bad

[@marycrawford3460]

thank you for sharing, great story

[@kateealer7]

Hero of the day!

[@AprilWooten-xe1vv]

Wow what a great piece of history thank you for sharing I love to hear history stories from others❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@v8infinity8]

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about the Blizzard season of 1880/1881 in what is now North Dakota. Seven months of Blizzards from October to April. A Native American came into the new town to warn them- he spoke of cycles of 7 years- that these years would have the longest Blizzard Season- and then every 21 years would be the worst. He said 1880/81 season would be one of these "A long winter". "The Long Winter" is my fav LIW book. She has genius level writing. Highly recommended. So the 1888 Blizzard season fits in with this old knowledge the Native American brought.

[@randywatts6969]

I read that book in 1967 at the age of 12 and couldn’t put it down until finished.

[@WaiferThyme]

That was the winter she met Almonzo. He and his brother Royal along with another lad traveled several hours to get enough wheat to feed the town.

[@WaiferThyme]

​@randywatts6969 I loved the little house books! I was quite frail as a child and would spend several days a month I bed or on the couch sick. Books and lap toys were my main-stay so my Mum started helping me build a massive collection of books in series. Enid Blyton, Thornton Burgess, Jean Little. Every month we would go to the bookstore for a new book. (I also haunted the town library 😂). I was 7 or 8 when I started the Little House series.

[@judybeeding1813]

It was in South Dakota, not North.

[@randywatts6969]

@@judybeeding1813 North and South Dakota were combined into one territory then, before statehood

[@Syxmaxwell]

From Nebraska. while in 1st grade we had grandparents/great grandparents day in the spring at school. We had the the unique chance to have survivor of the blizzard. She and her older brother hid in a haystack to wait out the blizzard. Her long braid had frozen to the ground and once the storm had passed her brother had to dig out and go for help. They had to cut her braid off to free her. She brought the almost 100 year old braid to show us. No one complained about having to bring out coats to school with us for the rest of the spring that year.

[@sashaconrad3939]

What a powerful story to hear at that age! God bless that lady who survived.

[@beverlyarcher3744]

Mom always said she hated when there was hot and cold days on the same day cause didn't know what to send us in and then the weather changed while we were in school it's why I always brought shorts with me and pants and a coat just in case of that weather change

[@AprilWooten-xe1vv]

I love this I love history thanks for sharing a piece of history ❤❤❤❤

[@janicesmith2475]

If you’re into severe weather, read “The Long Winter”, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It’s her first-hand account of living through an amazing seven-month-long winter. For seven months, they had near-constant blizzard conditions. It would be sunny and calm for a day or two at most, when suddenly the sky would go black and *BAM!* You better hope you’re indoors and well-stocked, cuz you’re not going anywhere for a good three days. Then they’d have another one or two clear days when *BAM!* The next one would hit. It’s really a fascinating book, and I’ve read it nine times so far. ☺️ (I know, cuz I put a ✔️ in books after I’ve read them [OCD].)

[@Ozzianman]

Normal winters here in Norway does a number on the body as I myself had severe Vitamin D deficiency. 7 months with probably inconsistent amounts of supplies would wreak havoc.

[@darthlobster]

I was just thinking about that. I think that was the winter of 1880/81.

[@alisonbrowning9620]

i read that as well, they indured a shocking long winter and then locusts and extreme heat, I cannot imagine it.

[@janicesmith2475]

@@alisonbrowning9620 I love all the Little House books to this day, and I’m 64! Did you hear they’ve declared Laura Ingalls Wilder a racist and have taken her name off of the literary award named for her?

[@celticlass8573]

I wondered if the episode of the blizzard was about this blizzard. I guess it was!

[@lisapop5219]

My mom would never let me go to school in the winter without my coat and boots "you never know what it's going to be like after school". I couldn't leave winter gear behind before March. The Midwest can be unpredictable af.

[@cpuwizard9225]

40 degrees and sunny yet walking to school in a snowsuit and boots because of exactly that.

[@phaedrapage4217]

More than once in my lifetime it's snowed in Iowa in late April, including the day I was born.

[@rj13bayne2]

"Welcome to the Midwest. Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes - it'll change." 😅

[@nilawarriorprincess]

I was born on an unseasonably warm day in early January while my sister was born during a blizzard in late March. Our mother always dressed us in layers. Better to have it & not need it than to need it & not have it.

[@collectingonthecheap56353]

I could not leave the snow gear at home until we had 2 continuous weeks of overnight temperatures above freezing, and it had to be after March.

[@pioneercynthia1]

There's a reason that some of the most successful pioneers of upper Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota were from the Scandinavian countries.

[@giselematthews7949]

My great grandparents were 2 of them.

[@karenashton5053]

My Swedish great grandparents went to Texas

[@gnostic268]

Another big advantage they had was that they were given free land that was stolen by the state from Native tribes who had been living on that land for thousands of years. Once the settlers discovered California they left. LoL

[@TC-cr2oy]

It's where my Norwegian ancestors settled.

[@WaiferThyme]

I will always remember my teacher in grade 4. We had a sudden, unexpected blizzard come screaming in. Parents came and got most of my mates but there were 4 or 5 of us left. Mrs H bundled us all up, even giving her own scarf to one child, we all grabbed hands and she walked each of us home. I was the third dropped off and i remember my mothers relief seeing me safe home.

[@TonyYarusso]

There’s a reason that here in the Midwest our local meteorologists are among the most well-known celebrities, and far more revered than regular news anchors or columnists. Sure, we may still tease them for not being right all the time, but when a TV station fires one people nearly riot.

[@cpuwizard9225]

I pretty much only have the TV on for the weather forecast, otherwise it's background noise. But as soon as I hear the "and now, your KWQC TV 6 First Alert Forecast" focus goes right to the screen.

[@That.Lady.withtheYarn]

Like Jim Cantore for hurricane. If he comes to your town… get ready to see some stuff or leave. There was even a commercial about him going on vacation and everyone panicked, dude had the beach to himself lol

[@janicev4862]

Gary England, from the National Weather Service and local stations in Norman, Oklahoma. He was the best and the biggest celeb. in Oklahoma. He could predict a tornado w accuracy. He even traveled to other states and countries, teaching how to use Dopplar Radar and other new, new back then, types of equipment. Him and meteorologists like him in the midwest are our heros! They save lives! They have to be accurate when severe weather is heading our way and it happens often. They don't usually get excited, they stay calm and give us the info we need, but when they say "Take cover", "Get prepared" or "You have time to leave", which is rare and only reserved for the extremely large mile-wide or wider tornados, you listen! We always listen! So shout out to our talented and caring meteorologists!!! May God continue to bless you all in your efforts to keep us all safe!🥰

[@tricorvus2673]

@@janicev4862❤ amen hallelujah. I grew up with that man telling us to take shelter. And by god we did.

[@LQOTW]

In St. Paul/Mpls we had a young Paul Douglas who was much beloved and something of a revolutionary at the time. When he left us for a larger market we were all verklempt.

[@holyheretic3185]

If they say it's going to snow or blizzard and it's a beautiful day out, you know it's going to be bad.

[@quester09]

same with tornadoes and hurricanes

[@neva_nyx]

In Kansas, it's usually opposite what is forecast 😮

[@JessicaRodriguez-zy5gz]

Often times not.

[@JessicaRodriguez-zy5gz]

@@quester09don’t bring tornados into your lie. It HAS to be cloudy for a tornado to form 😂 you think they just fall out the blank sky?

[@SolLunaris]

"Back in my day I had to walk through a blizzard both ways to get to school" just got a lot more street cred.

[@brazillady5119]

Uphill both ways? 😜

[@globalwarmhugs7741]

The children died, bruh

[@giselematthews7949]

Poor you. So did I.

[@bluestarblue22]

Should try that in Australia!

[@brazillady5119]

@@globalwarmhugs7741, not my great grandmother.

[@chrsgo]

The book "The Children's Blizzard" is a good, but heartbreaking, read about this tragic event. Lots of personal anecdotes and a thorough explanation of the cause of the weather.

[@janicesmith2475]

I have it. 😊

[@timhuebner9193]

Excellent book

[@sarahasbeck1206]

Very good book, but a sad read.

[@softkitty775]

Ty for the recommendation

[@cindycindybobindy1855]

Thank you for the book info. I just purchased the 9 1/2 hour audiobook from Audible. Ready for the road trip!

[@Kat-tr2ig]

I remember one day back in 1993 it was a particularly warm winter morning so we all went to school in t-shirts and shorts. By 1 pm they had to cancel classes and send everyone home because of a massive snowstorm. Living in the Midwest is wild.

[@jeannenoe7717]

I definitely remember days like that as I grew up in Michigan. My dad used to say if you don't like the weather in Michigan, just wait 5 minutes!! Lol

[@rj13bayne2]

I read the video title and my brain went "the children's blizzard?" And it's silly the amount of excitement I felt when he called it that and I realized I had remembered correctly 😅 Growing up in South Dakota, it's a story of caution that we were all taught. It's odd how much of an impact a single day could have on an area's culture for decades afterwards.

[@katelaloba8243]

I learned about it from Little House on the Prairie

[@bagsmohess]

The fact you felt excitement just shows how psychopathic you are.

[@TrineDaely]

I think there's more than one by that moniker. All terrifying.

[@danielsass1826]

Yea It's also called the children's blizzard

[@jokercardzz]

I remember after moving to SD in 1996/1997 we got the worst snowstorm in many decades, 60 years I believe. Snow drifts were over 6ft tall, and my siblings had to dig a tunnel to get out the front door

[@tastysilicapkt1329]

Native Nebraskan here. I remember being taught about these storms as a kid and being warned with horror stories of people getting lost feet from their front doors. It happens even today on occasion and now we also are taught to keep supplies in cars in case we get trapped inside either from the storm or if you crash and get snowed over before emergency services can reach you. Tbh it's a type of preparedness I am surprised isn't as focused on in other areas of the country, regardless of their own natural disasters.

[@raewren]

Lived up by the Great Lakes in Ohio. We did the same. Blankets, rations that couldn’t freeze, heat packs of some variation: now I live in Missouri, but I still think the same way.

[@brazillady5119]

Native Nebraskan, here too. I have family that was in that blizzard. Some had tales to tell. Wish I had listened more carefully.

[@Syxmaxwell]

Native Nebraskan, I remember hooking up static lines to run from the house to the barn so we wouldn't get lost

[@ashleyh6407]

​@@raewren same here, cuyahoga county. When I bought my first car my dad gifted me a shovel. I keep a full winter emergency kit in my trunk all year long. I find it so odd when others don't have a first aid kit, or extra water, or even a blanket or towel in their car.

[@cynthiaalver]

Born and raised in Colorado. My mother insisted on rubber boots and winter coats from November to April regardless of blue sky and higher temps. We lived in a small town where town kids walked to school. Farm and ranching kids were driven by parents. My mom used to tell us we could take off our coats and carry them if it was warm enough but there was NEVER leaving home without them. Weather was very unpredictable.

[@gaelstrarai]

Yeah I was born in Denver and to this day, I don't consider it Spring till May.

[@nessa2481]

Dumb question - would you just carry /pack your school shoes & change when you got there? Or wear rubber boots all day?

[@cynthiaalver]

@@nessa2481 Rubber galoshes went OVER our shoes. We took off galoshes inside and stored them in our cubbies.

[@JohnnyLee-bt4nt]

Yep Colorado weather, sunny one minute and snowing the next,

[@chinavaughan6383]

I learned about this incident from a book written by David Laskin, 20 years ago, entitled, The Children’s Blizzard. It was such a terrible tragedy😢

[@elainelevasseur7213]

Read this book. Highly recommend.

[@hlnbee]

I just bought it on kindle.

[@lisakleckner8061]

The 1888 Blizzard in Connecticut snowdrifts were still being found in the woods until the end of July.

[@Armstrong.N]

Over my life, I have lived in Colorado, Michigan, Southern California, Hawaii, Washington state, Houston and Austin, Texas. ALWAYS BE PREPARED.

[@TigerlilyWarrior]

I'm from Nebraska and I do remember my teachers talking about this when I was in the 3rd and 4th grade. But I really had no idea it was an ACTUAL event. Scary stuff. Side story: I took a night class in college one year and the weather changed so rapidly in 30 minutes that the class was canceled. By the time I got back to my car, the doors had frozen shut. I needed two guys to pull on my hatchback trunk so I could crawl into the car. Drove home and couldn't make it the last block to my home. Walked on the grass, crawled on the icy driveways to get to my front door. We went from 40 degrees to -30 in about an hour.

[@angelachouinard4581]

Had a boss from Nebraska when I lived in New Jersey My father's family is from Quebec. We talked about this kind of weather and our new Jersey coworkers scoffed. They had no clue.

[@ellemarr7234]

@@angelachouinard4581 NJ native here and I’m horrified. I thought our Nor’easters were bad enough 😳

[@nannettefreeman7331]

Spearfish, South Dakota holds the world’s record for the fastest INCREASE in temperature too! On January 22, 1943, the temperature in Spearfish went from -4F/-20C to +45F/+7C in TWO MINUTES!!! The bark on the trees cracked! 🤯

[@viewer-of-content]

and the temperature bounced back. it went from -4°f-54°f--7°f over the course of around an hour

[@raewren]

Wozers

[@dewilew2137]

I almost died when I was a kid in the blizzard of 1996. This is bringing back super traumatic memories of being trapped under six feet of snow. If my sister didn’t notice I had wandered off, I would have frozen to death.

[@Fakan]

"The Children's Blizzard" by David Laskin is a great book about this event for anyone interested. The snow was so fine that it could cause suffocation from breathing it in, and the visibility was virtually zero, so many people died just from stepping outside their homes or if they separated from their groups.

[@brendasorenson6186]

The Native Americans were not surprised. After living in the Great Plains for millenia, they understood what a beautiful, warm day in winter meant; hunker down. (Per Laskin's book)

[@opulentlilt455]

Living in Bend, Oregon we had a sudden severe weather warning sent to our phones to get home fast. My son was out at his friends house so I went to get him about 10 minutes and the roads were already so thick with snow I got stuck and had to be pushed out, slid around but we made it home, then 3 weeks stuck at home. There was simply too much snow at once and they couldn't even plow the parking lot out. For weeks later there were still mounds of snow piles in the parking lots of all the stores. I couldn't imagine walking as a child in something like that.

[@raquellofstedt9713]

Mom was from Minnesota. The Children´s blizzard was one of the very sad stories she passed down to us. It is a hard area, climate wise.

[@AeroGuy07]

My daughter was stationed in Grand Forks, ND while in the USAF. I visited her several times, but only once in the winter when it -25°F with a wind chill of -50°F. I've never been that cold in my life. In the summer it got well above 90°F and there wasn't much natural shade. The summers remind me of the desert, just without as much sand.

[@rapturesrevenge]

I'd say "welcome to the Great Plains," but I refuse to spend more time in either of the Dakotas than the time it takes to drive across them.

[@viewer-of-content]

@@rapturesrevengeits not that bad. you just have to get acclimated

[@josiahb2355]

@@viewer-of-contentI’m up in Saskatchewan and you don’t get acclimated, not when the weather the temp ranges from -40 to 100 degrees in the same year

[@viewer-of-content]

@@josiahb2355 you just got to stay fit&jacked. when i stress eat and put on 50lbs with depression&anxiety, then my feet and hands are cold that winter. and when Im at my peak 150lbs, then im warm. blood flow is directly related to metabolism. also I need to not react so poorly over bad news because it takes 6 months to bounce back. a roughly 3 year oscillation weight pattern is bad

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

In the 1940's a group organized the Greater Nebraska Blizzard Club to write a book about the storm. The resulting book, In All Its Fury: A History of the Blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888, With Stories and Reminiscences, was edited by W.H. O'Gara.

[@sashaconrad3939]

Is the book still in print?

[@davidponseigo8811]

I'm glad I'm from the deep south. A few years ago he in Louisiana we had a very rare snowstorm and it literally shut my area down for 5 days. We had no power and most had no way to leave and get food. My family was lucky, my father grew up in Chicago and he was always paranoid about snow so as a kid he taught me how to deal with heavy snow so as a adult I was better prepared. We have generators, heaters, four wheeled drive Jeeps and food. We helped our neighbors get food and gas and other supplies and we knew how to drive in the snow without crashing.

[@amybradbury338]

Heartbreaking, and it's still relevant. I've had my furnace go out during a sudden cold snap, and emergency preparedness kept us safe. Thank God it was only for about 9 hours, and if things had gotten really bad we could have gone to my parents in the next county, but still. Blankets, hot beverages, layers of clothing, space heaters (safely), winters are not something to mess with, especially with little ones.

[@motivatedmindful1976]

I grew up in the area that lost children. Two generations later, there was still great fear around that time of year when I was a child. You were taught to be prepared. I still don’t plan meetings where I have to drive in January and February. We have really good weather forecasts now.

[@lemapp]

One big change of the Great Blizzard of 1888 is buried wires. Before the storm, large parts of New York were covered with a thick canopy of wires. City officials took swift advantage of the storm. Instead of allowing the overhead wires to be re-installed, the city required they were buried. I'm in Virginia, where the state is requiring overhead wires to be buried. Did you know that squirrels cause more than 25% of all power outages? Also, buried wires are unaffected if a vehicle hits a pole.

[@KILLKING110]

sounds good until the power company tells you that you will be without power for hours while they try to find a backhoe to dig up damaged power line and to bury pre existing power lines requires millions of dollars per mile

[@colinm6989]

​@@KILLKING110 Nah, for heavy power lines, like the high tension, sure. Anything else, spool of wire and a ditch witch with a guy walking behind it at a decent pace. Not millions.

[@raylouis7013]

​@KILLKING110 we have buried power lines in a lot of the newer areas where I live in Australia (over head power lines cause a lot of fires..)it doesn't cost a fortune or take long periods to fix them.

[@karanjain5663]

​@@KILLKING110a power company that doesn't have backhoes points to a different issue altogether.

[@4362mont]

@@KILLKING110 California here: It still sounds like a good idea. Overhead lines have been starting deadly fires here since at least 2017. And many of the homes in the affected areas cost about 1-4 million each if you have to move to a new onee, though they did not cost nearly so much to buy or buikd back in the day.

[@DLB42]

It's like The Long Winter that Laura Ingalls Wilder survived in DeSmet, SD 1880-1881. The town nearly starved.

[@amandajones661]

I know this was 1888, but in reality that's not that long ago. It's amazing how far the weather alerts have come.

[@person35790]

As someone who has experienced 60 degree temp drops in my lifetime, and sudden crazy snowstorms, I cannot imagine going through those without modern weather. They come on quick and fierce, and not even at predictable times of the year. You can’t see, and even in the last one here there were cars who had driven off the road to be found days later. On a horse or on foot would would be a terrifying way to die.

[@Tpbmods]

I live in a part of BC Canada that sees winters down to -42c (-43.6f) all thew way to 45c (113f). If its Spring, Fall/Autumn or Winter, You have Winter clothing at all times. If its Summer, You carry a fire extinguisher, Enough water for a kiddie pool, Sunscreen, Hoodie/Jacket and an umbrella... Just incase

[@maiziebug]

I am not familiar with Celsius- I am curious as to why the negative equivalent to change C to F is almost the same, but positive has a differential of 65+ degrees?

[@nlwilson4892]

Fast forward to 1996 and many of the pupils in a Special Needs school in Whitehaven, Cumbria got trapped overnight. The snow started falling heavy during the morning and only the Head and Deputy Head could order the closure of the school and arrangements to get the kids home. They were both away on a course. By the time the school day came to a close many roads in town were blocked and no chance of getting kids back to rural areas (Except for the one enterprising father who sent his neighbour on a tractor to bring his daughter back over the fields.) The police used a 4x4 to get the list of medication needed to the hospital and returned with necessary medication and blankets. The manager of a nearby supermarket heard that people were trapped at the school and waded through the snow with bags full of free food. This storm wasn't anywhere near as bad as the 1888 blizzard and it was possible to get all the children home the next day. But one wonders, how on earth were there not adequate warnings, and how on earth did the school not have a policy of someone else being delegated to make the decision to evacuate.

[@thecook8964]

Schools were often small, with one teacher for eveyone-delegation? Only one teacher😂

[@nlwilson4892]

@@thecook8964 My last paragraph is referring to the incident I described in the rest of the post. I'm making the point that when the 1888 blizzard happened there were good reasons why there was no warning and no communication, in 1996 there was no excuse and it shouldn't have happened.

[@fourcatsandagarden]

this story is one my grandma learned about when she was in school, and it helped her be prepared for a blizzard in the 70s, and no matter how warm it was she made me take my coat with me to school from October til March lol.

[@annadavis2547]

During the 1850’s, two handcart companies were stranded in Wyoming due to a sudden early blizzard on their way to Utah. A rescue party was sent out to find them. They were completely out of food and living in tents. This saved many of the pioneers.

[@lWonderWho]

I remember reading the “I Survived” book on this when I was younger

[@EmilyJelassi]

I went through a polar vortex once when I was in college in New Hampshire. That was the year when we had several feet of snow on Easter, which definitely shocked everyone!

[@derekk8523]

Blizzard of 77 was insane as well

[@hanoverfiste6292]

1978

[@hanoverfiste6292]

never mind, there was a giant blizzard in '77 too

[@derekk8523]

@@hanoverfiste6292 77 was the year here ( buffalo/ Niagara Falls) that is infamous. Some areas had 14 foot drift ls. I was not born yet

[@derekk8523]

The old timers love talking about it. It didn’t snow that much but the lake was frozen and all of Lake Eries snow blew on the area

[@hanoverfiste6292]

@@derekk8523 Im Rhode Island and we got slammed in 78, also not born yet, I didnt know about the New York/Ontario one in 77. Rough couple years there for the North East, but thanks to you I know about it know, so right on

[@erichouser7756]

I'm bred, borned, and raised in west central Nebraska. I still, disturbingly often, get cellphone alerts a half hour AFTER freaky nasty weather starts. Most times, I trust dice over the perceived predictors available

[@hotrodmercury3941]

I can attest to how quick it changes. One morning during winter, I got up and was chatting with a friend on snapchat. As we spoke about the weather, he told me to bring along a jacket in my car just in case. It was a warm, clean 65F morning I was dismissive.. it was first year in the Midwest and first winter. Yet i still listened anyways. Im glad I did, because at 1 PM, the started to come. It didnt stop, it continued all night and the temperature dropped to -20 F. If I had not brought my jacket along, I would've been miserable or in real trouble if I got stuck without one.

[@grassroot1100]

My Paternal Grandfather lived through that one, working for a Farmer they had great drifts to tunnel through to get at the animals and tend them. Blizzard of '88. He was a mere teen ager at the time. We had a biggie in 1975, 25 inches in a short time wind blown and hard packed. Had to leave my car at work as I didn't take off early enough. Three days later could go back and dig my car out. Also had a biggie in 1949 Omaha , Nebr.

[@Indyofthedead]

This reminds me of Minnesota in the spring of 2013. It was April and all the snow melted. For two weeks it was green and snow free. Then one day, a blizzard hit, bringing down 2 feet (62 cm) in a single day. I couldn't imagine having that happen when indoor electricity wasn't really a thing.

[@allandavis8201]

And some people think that strange and fierce weather conditions are a modern phenomenon, it just goes to show that we don’t have a monopoly on the sudden and unpredictable weather events that are being experienced now, and we don’t know exactly what happened in the past, before weather satellites and monitoring systems, before tv stations or even radio stations, and we have better infrastructure and equipment to deal with it all.

[@ellemarr7234]

I’d never heard of this catastrophic storm. What a terrible natural event 😔

[@hlnbee]

My grandmother was born in 1889 in Arizona. A warm place!

[@JAF30]

If your interested a bit further into this one, the "History Guy: History that Deserves to be Remembered" also did video on this subject as well.

[@1whitkat]

I grew up outside of Denver Co. in a rural farm community. We saw a lot of this kind of storm, although we were always forewarned they were coming. I can imagine what it was like out there on the plains with nothing but your wits for protection. It makes all the safety precautions we had in place make that much more sense. We had locked cupboards in the classrooms with blankets and other comfort items. The basement of our school had a stock pile of canned food and water. I'm sure that was common in most areas and still is.

[@raneekrueger5784]

My Grandfather talked about the Armistead day blizzard in 1940. Lots of people died then too. One of reasons was that in Minnesota got the weather forecast from Chicago weather center,l. After that we got one in Minneapolis.

[@annabelleb.8096]

My father went to a one room schoolhouse in rural Kansas in the 1920's. On one cold day the stove to heat the schoolhouse was not working well and it was cold in there. The teacher told the kids to get their coats on but my dad, being an independent thinker even then, left instead and went to a nearby farmer's house. Somehow the school caught on fire that day. Since my dad wasn't there he was blamed for the fire but the farmer spoke up and said that wasn't possible since my dad was with him.

[@shirleymiller4219]

Did everyone make it out of the schoolhouse in time?

[@annabelleb.8096]

@@shirleymiller4219 I had to look it up in the family history to make sure I got the story right. The teacher was very angry with my father for walking out like that. The stove must have been working again because later in the day the kids had their coats off and my uncle who was a little older than my dad, noticed the fire and shouted "fire." The teacher had them all line up at the door without their coats and ordered them out. One little girl wanted to go back inside to get her new coat. The teacher and my uncle were struggling with her at the door step when the roof caved in. Everyone was safe but how the fire started is not mentioned. A nearby farmer had seen the smoke and came quickly to take everyone to bis farmhouse.

[@shirleymiller4219]

@@annabelleb.8096 I’m so glad they held that little girl off or she might have been in there when the roof collapsed. And wise of the teacher for having them all leave then without stalling to get their coats. I have recently read of two horrible schoolhouse fires . One in New York City somewhere in 1958 and one I believe in Ohio in 1908. There were many teachers and students who didn’t make it out for various reasons. So very sad.

[@annabelleb.8096]

@@shirleymiller4219 It does look like the teacher made the right decision to get the kids out without their coats. At the end of the day my dad was only child in the classroom to still have his winter coat. 😊 There was also a terrible fire at a large Catholic school in Chicago in the '50's where a lot of nuns and students died.

[@shirleymiller4219]

@@annabelleb.8096 okay yes , this was one of the two I mentioned. It was Chicago; not Ohio.

[@caferrucci]

The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin is an excellent book detailing what happened. Well worth the time to read!

[@susanlett9632]

The book "the childrens blizzard" was heartbreaking 😔

[@jessestewart169]

Wow how brutal. God bless all those poor people. 🙏 thankyou for this story. Never knew of it.

[@northernbound93]

I miss the snow greatly since having moved to the south, but blizzards like that make me take off the rose colored glasses :)

[@lindasnowden7862]

They also start getting snow in early October and doesn't end until some time late April. Sometimes there were still some piles left to melt in May.

[@carinsvoice]

In the 1940s in rural Iowa, my dad had a similar experience, walking to school without a coat on an unseasonably warm day, only to have to walk home in a severe winter storm/blizzard.

[@JR-uz2ej]

The Nebraska state capitol bldg has a giant glass mural commemorating that.

[@metroidhunter965]

Here’s the true danger of the temperatures that was listed overnight Those temperatures only account for measurable surface temperature, meaning it doesn’t account for wind chill. Wind chill can be especially deadly as it can increase onset of hypothermia and frostbite.

[@jedpratte]

I live in northern iowa. Definitely major weather changes. 90 deg and humidity to match in summer and -35 F real temp wind chills of -55 F in winter.

[@iowafarmboy]

Hello fellow north Iowan! Clear Lake area here.

[@teresabenson3385]

Yeah, but -35 is pretty rare here, especially in the last couple of decades.

[@jedpratte]

@@teresabenson3385 true still sub zero is the norm but just for days or a week at a time.

[@SquatchStomper]

So grandpa was telling me the truth, wading through five miles of snow up hill both ways.

[@terrioestreich4007]

One thing about the blizzard too, was that the railroads were blocked because of the snow, so even if you made it through the blizzard you still couldn't get any supplies for weeks if I remember correctly

[@HeidiBuss-pd8cw]

You are correct. After the blizzard swept through the Midwest it hit the Eastern United States.

[@peaceseeker52]

My great grandpa Jacob Stebler born near Bern Switzerland, came to the US with his family in 1849 cfirst to PA and then Davenport IA his Dad was a Butcher and then served in the Civil War from IA. He took advantage of bounty land offered to Civil War Soldiers Bounty land his was near Madison SD IN 1985. He and a son by his late wife went to build a house and barn while farming in Minden IA but chose to gobstay with his Mothers people in Joliet IL then moved the next early Spring 1886. He kept a diary in a book of maps and information he took it with him back from the War. He wrote of the terrible loss of life of children in the area and gave thanks they were spared. But he also wrote of the struggle back from the barn when the rope between the house and barn snapped, it was totally white out conditions. The son Fred Stebler became an inventor and business man. Jacob named him executor of his estate in 1900. Jacob still harbored anger over his mothers death and Fathers remarriage a year later so he came to SD acted proper but took off with everything. The house was built by an inheritence his second wife recieved. The family was left pennyless and homeless and joined relatives back in IA. Fred started and ran the Riverside Fruit sorting machine business in Riverside CA and became wealthy but never last angry. He paid people to harass his stepmother until she went into hiding shortly before her death in 1904. Later the Stebler Trunk Silver and big Swiss Bible among other mementos was kept by the stepmother and eventually was passed down to my Grandmother. In 1926 my Grandparents were renting in Mpls and the Trunk was stolen out of the locked garage. Fred retired a Millionaire by 1939 sold his business and worked with the American Nazi Party here and in Europe. My Grandma and I started recording genealogy about 1985 and she wrote to Fred Jr, a very nice man, who called us He had the Trunk. My Grandma was relieved it was "in the family" and she didnt "lose it forever." The Fruit Sorting business went on to evolve into General Dynamics. They should have bought stock in it. 😏 I sent 70 Swiss Francs to the Archives in Bern to try to expand on what we knew. Switzerland was still very closed still in the 1980's. It was only one of two inquiries we never heard back on.

[@augiegirl1]

On the day of my parents’ wedding (3 days before Christmas in 1972), it was 50 degrees in Mead, Nebraska during the day, but a blizzard hit that evening. Mom & Dad had no problem making it 25 miles east to Omaha for their honeymoon, but my paternal grandparents had trouble getting back 20 miles north to Fremont. EDIT: after talking to Mom, it turns out it was more of an ice storm than a blizzard. When they returned to Mead the next day after the night in Omaha, Mom’s car was coated with ice SO THICK that they had to leave it there.

[@justvintagecrochet]

This was played out in an episode of Little House On The Praire, which was set in the 1880s

[@elessarsgirl4883]

The one in 1880 was a separate event to the one in 1888.

[@charlesachurch7265]

Another fascinating presentation thanks xxx

[@ItsJustLisa]

I was born and raised in southern Wisconsin, but have lived my whole adult life in Minnesota. The Children’s Blizzard has been lore my entire life. We don’t joke about blizzards here and those who are stupid enough to claim they “know better” are usually the ones who get full Monty dose of karma. They get no sympathy from the rest of us. One thing that has gnawed at me is how did the Native Americans fare in this storm? Did their generational knowledge prepare them better to not be lulled by the nice morning weather? And looking at what became the National Weather Service, you’d think they’d have learned some lessons from this blizzard event by 1900 about listening when someone is telling you shit is about to go down, weather wise. Of course, I’m referring to the hurricane that practically destroyed Galveston Texas. Weather Bureau officials in Cuba kept saying that the storm they’d seen was heading to the Gulf of Mexico and would strengthen. The Weather Bureau had already made a policy that storm warnings could not be issued without prior authorization. They believed it would turn back east and hit Florida. The result was the deadliest hurricane in North American history. No other has even come close and five of the top ten happened before it.

[@dastrnad]

The book about that, Isaac’s Storm, is a very engrossing read. The Cuban weather bureau had a lot of experience and knew the monster storm was heading across the Gulf of Mexico toward Galveston’s general vicinity. But Isaac Cline, Chief weatherman for Texas, thought he knew better. That story always reminds me of the saying “pride goeth before the fall” because Isaac lost his pregnant wife and several children in that storm. I suspect you’ve already read the book but, if not, it’s excellent!

[@sakurakittynoir1400]

My favorite book is actually set in both the late 90's & the year of 1888. It focuses on 3 siblings (2 brothers & a sister) on a family trip to New York City. They keep slipping in & out of their own time, back to the winter of 1888. They have to work together to unravel a mystery & try to save a brother & sister from perishing in the great blizzard. I've read that book so many times. Still my personal favorite. 😊😊😊 Note: the blizzard in the book is actually the great blizzard of 1888, which occurred from March 11th to March 14th of that same year, two months after the children's blizzard.

[@victoriaeads6126]

I'm so thankful for modern meteorology!!

[@bettyir4302]

Sadly, people still don't pay attention. Once, ok more than once, I tried to tell the neighbors to expect a flood but most didn't listen but we moved their outdoor stuff up as far as possible. On one side of the river, firetrucks were going around warning people. On the other side of the river, crickets. I even called but was poo'ed off. We were on the crickets side but decided to pack the vehicles and head to high ground with kids, grandparents, pets and photo albums. The next day, the river had risen 33 feet. The next few days, I had neighbors' irreplacable photo albums spread all over the house drying out.

[@bettyir4302]

Then there were the 2 severe freezes in TX in recent years. We had plenty of warning for days but people, mostly city folk, still sat on their thumbs and did nothing to prepare. From interviews, one family was in tears over having to go to the neighbors to heat their baby's bottle. Excuse me, they had a fireplace going and they had body heat. Put the bottle under your arm and it will heat up a bit. As if a fireplace wouldn't also cook their food. Many people were also upset the food in their freezers melted (ah, so not so cold in the house, huh) but they never thought to move food out to the garage or outside where is was below freezer temps. Then there were the beyond clueless who, after being warned for days, had zip, zero, nada food in their homes much less any clue how to cook it so other people had to risk bringing them already prepared food. Even if people had the bare minimum of food at the house and no money to buy out the grocery store, they would have been fine. Close off all rooms other than one where everyone can gather - bodies generate heat. Cover windows and doors with anything available be it towels or extra blankets or cardboard or bubble wrap will stick to the wet glass. Fill containers with water before the power goes out and put them into empty spaces in the freezer to 1) help keep things frozen and 2) that is drinkable water. Fill every clean container with water to keep for drinking and not so clean containers to use in the toilet - yellow can mellow and put tp in the trash until utilities are working. May need to put plastic grocery bags on the seat for #2. Get the laundry done and clean the kitchen while there is still power. And everyone take a bath while there's still hot water and less stinkage after a few days without. Find your batteries and flashlights and charge everything. Get emergency phone numbers written down on paper. Beware, cell towers may go down quickly. Find all your candles and matches and be careful using them. Before hand, bake up whatever you have on hand to eat as snacks especially for the kids - bread, cookies, a cake mix, breakfast muffins and pop a big batch of popcorn. Pre-cook pasta and rice and throw in whatever vegs or meats you have and so what if you have to eat it cold, at least you're not starving. FYI, cooked pinto beans need cold or they won't last long unrefrigerated so beware and keep them in the cold. You can eat straight from the can (you do have a manual can opener?) - vegs, tuna, fruit, vienna sausages, soup. Don't drain the canned veg/meat down the sink as that is liquid to drink or use it to stir into potato flakes. Eat the ice cream first before it melts. Drink the milk before it sours. BEWARE of grills as they will kill you if they're used inside. If not approved for inside use, then do NOT.

[@IZA_Grey]

I decided to watch a nice relaxing Simon Whistler video. "THE CHILDREN DIED OF FROSTBITE!"

[@marilynmitton4038]

Greetings from Vancouver Island B.C.Canada.😲Wow,I never heard of this before!

[@BowEchoMedia]

More weather content please! I loved this video. Total weather nerd, and now I’m going to send this to my professor for next semester’s classes.

[@sevensins3584]

Sudden weather changes will mess you up

[@hanoverfiste6292]

If your doing blizzards check out the Blizzard of '78 in the North East US

[@Rydonattelo]

Celtic Football Club founded 1888 : The year the children got trapped.

[@myrlyn1250]

I kept asking myself why they went out into the blizzard, but I guess if the building is coming apart around you, there's not much choice to it.

[@bettyir4302]

SMH, at the teacher who didn't bring in wood so sent the kids home. As if books and desks wouldn't burn. Big deal, the community would have to replace them but their children would likely have survived to sit on the floor instead of at desks.

[@theloneone7587]

I'm from Illinois and have been in three big blizzards. The first in 78', 99' and the last in 2011. The 2011 one was harder because I had school age children who were on busses coming home at the time when the blizzard was first hitting. So, my friend and neighbor went with me in my SUV to pick up our younger kids (my son and her daughter were in Elementary at the time). Our two older sons were in Middle school and on a bus that had stopped a mile from our home. We could not drive to them so we walked. They had called us and let us know that the bus was stuck and not moving. It took us about an hour to walk there and an hour to get them back. We had left our younger kids at my neighbors home. When we got to the bus the only kids left were the kids from our subdivision. We walked back with 8 kids and dropped them off at their homes. It took us 3 hours to get everyone home. That Blizzard ended up dumping 6 feet of snow and temps in the low teens F.

[@globalwarmhugs7741]

Cloud in winter gives a nice insulation, sun means bitter cold. Never get caught out, tourists. The locals know.

[@kimberlyc84]

I work for the largest school district in GA. This is my 20th year. It was well known the 'we' were ALWAYS the last school district to make the call to cancel...until that January, 2014. School districts had cancelled the day before, government offices closed, etc...except our school district. Instead of even closing early, they pushed through the entire day. Busses were stuck on parkways, some of us didn't get home until after 8 pm, and of course parents were furious, including me! But my kids went to their zoned schools so my brother-in-law got to them for me. I also kept them layered and bundled despite people calling me out ("you're kids are gonna have a heat stroke with all those clothes! You must think you're still up North 🙄 blahblahblah." I STILL have my down filled London Fog to huddle under while waiting to warm up my car.) It took that (and HUGE news coverage) for it to never happen again. Now, if there's an inkling of inclement weather that keeps temps right above freezing, the district closes. Being from NY, I didn't necessarily have an issue with below freezing temps. But the roads (and drivers) are nowhere near able and equipped to handle ice & snow down here. I've got NOOO problem with staying home to prevent adding to the chaos. They called it Snowmeggedon.

[@theawesomeman9821]

Blizzards are scary nowadays in the modern age, I can only imagine how much more terrifying blizzards were back in 1888.

[@sallyschlarmann1864]

Native Nebraskan here. I believe there is a mural in the state capitol building depicting the teacher guiding the children tied together on a rope.

[@dongilley3273]

I worked in ND in 2013-14-15 the winter months were the worst. Negative 50 or 60 and hauling water in the oil field was quite the adventure.

[@MarshmaIlowGaming]

Iowan here, born and raised. As Simon said, the weather here is almost always at one polar end or another, hardly ever somewhere in the middle. January and February you can expect highs of -20 daily, infact my home town set a new record low -55 this winter. You can expect blizzards to drop 8+ inches of snow at a time. Come July and August, you'll be hard pressed to find a day under triple digits, even if you did, it's a constant 100% humidity. Also when it rains here it pours, tornadoes and golf ball sized hail is a common occurrence.

[@teresabenson3385]

😅 As a fellow Iowan, I can say you're exaggerating quite a bit. A quick check of meteorology records will out you.

[@cpuwizard9225]

@@teresabenson3385 His numbers are greatly exaggerated but as a Jackson County resident, he's not wrong about the weather being bipolar AF.

[@phaedrapage4217]

Not to mention the random high winds uprooting trees, lol. I'm almost 50, have pretty much always lived in Iowa but at the same time have always wondered why the hell anyone lives here. Other than the ethanol blend gas being cheaper than it is most other places, of course. 😂

[@teresabenson3385]

@@cpuwizard9225 Yeah, I didn't realize until well into adulthood that many other places have narrower temperature ranges than we do.

[@teresabenson3385]

@@phaedrapage4217 It's not the worst place. No earthquakes or hurricanes. People are generally nice. Equidistant to both coasts means no redeye flights. First dibs on who gets to be on the presidential ticket.

[@OpalLeigh-il8yj]

Both my parents are teachers: and they would give their lives for any one of their students without hesitation. All teachers worth their salt would. We need to treat them accordingly ❤

[@chopper2204]

It reminds me of The Simpsons episode when the kids get stuck in the school from a blizzard. Kent Brockman the T.V anchor announces "And in weather, meteorologists have upgraded the snow forecast from 'Winter Wonderland' to a class 3 killstorm!'

[@g.mhamilton1505]

I saw a horrific story last week, a KZbin influencer was caught in "faint drizzle" with only a light cardigan. Hopes & prayers 🙏🏽

[@socalgal714]

This sounds like an episode of Little House on the Prairie! 😆

[@kimberlyc84]

I remember hearing about Minnie Freeman who roped all her students together and led them through a blizzard in the 1800s. I think there's a statue commemorating the event.

[@gypsydildopunks7083]

I've lived in Kansas for quite some time. Once it rained without a cloud in the sky. Shite gets weird here.

[@TheDriller571]

Sounds like the Town I grew up in. The Storms would hit the end of March every year.

[@Senacacrane]

And this is why you should have your winter gear and clothes with you,it keeps you safe.

[@babysisdolls3336]

it's strange to me America has such extreme weather that matches our notional mood.

[@jillsipocz3582]

Yeah, "Bi-polar"... no pun intended.

[@Nobody-s824]

Was hoping to find a new simon video to listen to, wasn't disappointed.

[@maranathaschraag5757]

I grew up in South Dakota. There's a game we like to play in winter. it's called "where is the road?" while we're driving. blizzards are no joke. and the deep negative temps can cause the local government to put out exposed skin warnings. the two months of summer are the opposite - usually around or over 100F with crushing humidity. good times. there's a reason i don't live there any more.

[@LisaKroulikMN]

My great-great grandfather, Daniel Nolan, was killed in this storm. His pregnant wife was home with their 5 children.

[@666soso]

I’m from the Midwest but yeah this sounds right.

[@bradlevantis913]

Excellent video as always.

[@michaeltutty1540]

There is a well done novel about the storm of 1888 called "The Great Blizzard". Interesting read.

[@sethx1327]

The Children's blizzard is tought well here in Nebraska, the weather can turn in an inst