The Blizzard of 1949 - The Storm of the Century

[@jerryodell1168]

There were other states equally caught in the blizzard of 1949. We were living in Neillsville, Wisconsin when it hit. The farm was cut off from civilization for about a month with a massive snow drift at the North end of the farm that was as high as the cross arm of the power pole. the men in the area got together and with shovels, trucks, tractors, and whatever they could find worked in shifts to finally open the road. I remember my Dad and I even though I was very young at the time shoveling snow to get to the barn. It was like a very narrow hall with snow walls on either side. I know I didn't do much, but I was proud to help. Later that spring there was a tornado that came through less that a mile that blocked the road again for a day or so. Again, Dad was off with neighbors to help with the cleanup.

[@johnbouwens2024]

My family has been telling stories about this blizzard for years and years and years I can remember hearing the stories that the family reunions and it was my great-great-aunt and my mom my mom was 10 years old when this happened and she remembered it very very well but my great aunt must have been in her seventies and they lived there in Nebraska they lived in in Beaver Crossing Nebraska and Harrison Nebraska and Lusk Wyoming which is real close to the Border there story still ringing in my ears today

[@083037010589]

I was 12 yrs. old . We lived on the 10,000 ac. Lee Ranch . Went to school with 4 other kids in one room of our House .My brother & I had a side of frozen beef hanging on our bedroom wall. God it was cold. What memories!!!!!!

[@johnbrier5557]

My name is John Brier. In January of 1949 I lived on Forth F.E. Warren Army base (father was career military) in Cheyenne, Wyo. I was 7 years old. My family and I were trapped in base housing for almost 4 days. My father, with a broken leg, went to a base facility for milk and bread for our family. None of us had expected this gigantic storm and had not stocked up for it. Some drifts were 25 feet high.! we were running low on coal, so during the daytime we shut the furnace off and bundled up with lots of clothes. My father had a battery radio and we were able to keep track of what was going on. As a child it was an adventure of sorts, but as we learned later folks actually died in the storm. My high school reunion (60 years) was held in Cheyene and we had tons of pictures of our time in that storm. We had T-shirts that said I SURVIVED THE BLIZZARD OF '49! And we did!! John J. Brier Captain Continental Airline Retired.

[@lowes9542]

Thank you for sharing.

[@Dzonemp]

I wish I could remember all the stories my mom and dad told me about the blizzard of 49. Unfortunately I was young and didn't listen very well. I do remember my mom telling me how desperate her parents were for tobacco and how they dug through all their trash and ash trays tearing open cigarette buts so they could roll another cigarette. She swore she would never smoke and she never did. My dad's stories were about giant drifts and digging every where you had to go. And about how hard it was trying to feed the cattle and keep all the livestock alive. They still had to milk cows and keep the windmills pumping. He also told how they would heat up water and oil , then dump it in their engine just to get it started. Tough, hard times. They really were the strongest generation.

[@sharynmonet8314]

I remember my father had to walk the 5 miles to town and back to get evaporated milk for my baby sister who was about 3 months old. My mother was really scared and it was a great relief when my father safely returned home with the milk.

[@alvinamiller2842]

This was so interesting to see ,what I remember about that year I was 14 years old and my dad and I took our big truck to Bayard to get groceries. I couldn't believe all the snow. Something to behold.

[@kennethjohnson8323]

I was there as a tractor operator, member of National Guard.

[@amyleigh8394]

Thank you for your service

[@intelligentperson6759]

yes, thanks for your service

[@joesmith389]

Thank you for your service good sir

[@kennethjohnson8323]

I was a freshman at Nebraska U when the National Guard was activated for emergency storm aid. I was a member of 3667 Ordinace Medium Maintenance Company. As a civilian i had experience in operating cats/Dozers. I was assigned to a unit that was Dispatched to Thedford where Snow was piled in drifts in places over 15 Feet deep. We consisted of two D7 Cat Dozers. Two Heavy Equipment WWII Trailers, pulled by Ten ton Prme Movers Two Jeeps and one 3/4 Ton truck. on departing Lincoln we encountered slick ice which required unloading one dozen to pull the other equipment up a couple of hills but otherwise the trip was uneventful. On arrival in Thedford we set up at the Railroad Depot. Captain Penterman coordinated laying out areas most in need of help and we started plowing out routes I remember plowing down on the dismal river but otherwise I just remember plowing as directed and maybe Seven to days Not sure then a train loaded with dozers dropped off some still in cosmoleen direct from Rock Island Arsenal. About the same time a Red Cross unit along with a camera crew stopped long enough to serve Captain Penterman and some County Officials a Cup of Coffee and take a picture. We convoyed back to Lincoln and I went to Aberdeen Proving Grounds for Artillary Mechanics School.

[@dailewing7946]

What great info about this event! Thank you for your service, of course, and thank you for taking the time to type it out and get it in here for posterity.

[@rogerlangevin2274]

Kenneth Johnson l Love to ear These true life stories thank you so much,was the snow storm only in Nebraska or all over U.S.A.? In 1949?

[@rogersawyer9265]

I was only 5 months old when this happened.ive been told my dad worked for chicago northwestern railroad based out of Ainsworth Nebraska and he was gone for over a week trying to clear tracks.we also didn't have indoor toilets.must have been pretty tough on my mother and sister.

[@pkrfan2]

I was born in January 1949 in Nebraska City. My dad took my mom to St. Mary's Hospital in Nebraska City in a 1938 Ford sedan. He often told me about how tough it was to get there. I'm sure it was. He also would say that winter was a "son of a gun". For years as a child I blamed myself for it, since he tagged it as the winter I was born. I eventually got over it.

[@nebraskapublicmedia]

+Roderick Kehlenbeck thanks for sharing your story.

[@intelligentperson6759]

glad you are here now to tell the story - thank you, be well

[@heidimisfeldt5685]

I am glad that you understand now, how this was not, and could not possibly be your fault. It's just how things happened, life comes with challenges. Seems like your mom, you, and your dad survived just fine. Thank goodness.

[@SafetyMentalst]

"1949 Snow Storm" Long ago a mighty snow storm occurred For weeks stranded in snow they endured With food in short supply not to be procured County cowboy ranchers food pantries secured Took in storm stragglers and life was reassured

[@bryanbarfoot4131]

Born in 48 in Scottsbluff. Had tonsilitis during the blizzard. Sister told me they kept temp and swelling down with snow.

[@DBAllen]

I was born in '56 at West Nebraska General Hospital, the old downtown location.

[@ToxiChaos]

I remember my great grandmother telling me about a story about her dog that was lost in this storm and she never her again. When my great grandmother died we went to her old farm and I found by her pond a dogs skeleton

[@rogerlangevin2274]

HalfiplierMania that is so sad she must have loves her dog.

[@valkkyrriee]

HalfiplierMania she never again?

[@heidimisfeldt5685]

@@valkkyrriee ..... never SAW her again

[@rexbahr3416]

I think they are a little off. The wind and Snow started in the fall. I was 14 , almost 15 and 7 miles south and 1 mile East of Spalding Nebraska. Our stock tanks froze solid and when they thawed out in the spring some of the fish were still alive and some had turned white.

[@DBAllen]

Yeah, I remember it being called the blizzard of '48.

[@bryanbarfoot4131]

I was months old and got tonsilitis. My mom kept putting snow on my jaw because they couldnt get to the doc. I never had them out.

[@zxy78267]

My dad flew his Piper Cub with skis on it to take people to the hospitals and deliver supplies to snowbound farmers.

[@nebraskapublicmedia]

That's an amazing story. Thanks for sharing.

[@zxy78267]

It was pretty amazing, considering the conditions. My mom made a very detailed scrapbook with articles and photos of the blizzard.

[@dailewing7946]

That's awesome. I 'spose your Dad is not with us anymore, and dang it, it would have been really interesting to have him tell us his memories of that event and flying the plane on mercy missions. Nebraskans always seem to rise to the occasions when adversity hits.

[@rogerlangevin2274]

DJ you Must have been very proud of your Dad in this kind of weather you see real Hero, and to me so was your Dad...

[@theresacoringgray6885]

Seeing all that snow made my mouth water because I LOOOOOVE eating snow cones 🤤

[@carrickrichards2457]

My mother went to New York and Washington DC in 1948 as a girl, daugher of a French Military attachee founding the UN and at the French embassy. She still remembers the snow drifts in New York above the height of a car.

[@yotel1]

Doubt any storm this year can compete with the blizzard of 1949

[@ajschmeits]

Born in March 1948 central Nebraska in a home with no electricity or in door toilets. Must have been a little tough on my parents with 2 brothers age 4 and 8. Good thing I don't remember it .

[@dailewing7946]

I was born in Lincoln in late '54, and moved to Arizona due to brother's health reasons in '61. Every summer, our folks would pile us 3 kids into the back of the '66 Ford "Ranch Wagon" (station wagon)....where for 1300 miles my brother, sister and I would kick, scream, bite each other, then pout when our folks would finally have enough and lay down the law....lol. We'd eventually get to Albion....where my grandparents, as well as a beloved aunt/uncle had farms. I definitely remember no indoor plumbing at either place as late as maybe 1963-ish. Personally, I'm proud to be an American that had to use outhouses in his youth......we're dying off and pretty soon there won't be many of us left. Yeah....that'll end up being my big "5 minutes in the sun" battle cry. I'll have it on my tombstone..."a man, proud to have used outhouses in his early life, even used corn cobs instead of toilet paper" (true!). Hey...what the heck....we survived it!! You try telling today's youth that you grew up like that, their brains would begin smoking and smoldering...."it does not compute.......it does not compute".

[@marksolarz3756]

Armistice Snow Blizzard. Years earlier. Minnesota lost 49 people. Over 130. Died. Snow drifts 20ft high. Horses,Cattle, buried..frozen..still standing up. Started as a day of 50 degrees. But turned deadly. Most that died in Minnesota...were duck hunters. Frozen. Remember. There are others.

[@SafetyMentalst]

Silently our summer it slips away Suddenly #Autumn has no delay September twenty second a day To "Remember" Winter is on its way

[@pitsmcgoo]

Nebraska hasn't been the same since.

[@kathywhitaker8354]

My son was born that day that year. The weight thirteen pounds

[@fasx56]

what month in 1949 did this prolonged blizzard and cold occur, sounds like the severe conditions lasted a long time and how many states were effected.?

[@kenneththomas2032]

Happened in the middle of a solar maximum output

[@mysecondfiftyyears]

Fascinating!!!!!! Did they know that then?

[@indianheadlogan]

Call them Edward, because they got snowed in!

[@JosephNordenbrockartistraction]

Snow gets heavy on your house

[@eradicator187]

I remember everyone saying the climate was changing and another ice age was starting.

[@heidimisfeldt5685]

Climate change..... have we all not heard that forever. 🌳 About 50 years ago, when I was like 11 or 12 years old, on the bulletin board at school, there was a newspaper clip, with a picture of a tree, saying keep this picture for your children, they will never know what a tree looks like. Because of deforestation. I get the point alright, but trees are still around. Regardless. Because they produce plenty of seeds the winds carry away, and some are propagated by birds droppings. Nature does know how to heal herself, if we allow her to. 🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴

[@Shovelwax]

Need a tome machine to bring those poor folks some #Shovelwax!

[@tubefreakmuva]

damn

[@EvaSlayAllDay334]

The Storm of the Century was in 1993. That was the most devastating storm in the continental United States in over a century.

[@calvinborer6572]

Weather predicting is better today, that's a good one😂😂 Maybe it was better in the 90's but all they do now is look at a computer, no meteorological talent.

[@MHolt-t6y]

I guess that was before global warming.

[@jerryloradrifter]

A storm of this magnitude and all they could come up with is four minutes of video? Pathetic.