The School Children's Blizzard

The School Children's Blizzard

The Children’s Blizzard. It occurred in January 1888 on an unseasonably warm day. The weather was nice, and many school kids were tricked into not wearing coats or jackets to school, some only in short sleeves. While the kids were in class, the weather outside changed dramatically from warm and sunny at noon to dark and heavy like a thunderstorm, with heavy winds and visibility at 3 steps by 3 pm. Children left school to go home and do their chores (this was in Minnesota) and were expected to milk the cows and do whatever else was involved in the family farm. But they got lost in the darkness and snow, and the wind, and many froze in their town, just yards from houses or other sources of refuge. 235 people, mostly children

The blizzard on January 12, 1888 will forever be known as one of the most disastrous storms in history. The storm earned the name “the children’s blizzard” because so many children lives were taken in this malicious storm.

So many in that time had taken advantage of the Homestead Act and were ready to make a better life for their loved ones. That January morning was just like any other morning, the families prepared for school and their daily farming activities. There was nothing to indicate that trouble was en route. Therefore, no one would was ready for it. This day would certainly be the most memorable for some for generations to come. Who and what were to blame for not warning the counties in time of this monster that devoured so much and so many in such a brief time frame? Some would say human error. Some may place the blame on the forecaster’s part, while others urge it was not enough technology in place or faulty science

It showed no mercy. No compassion. No kindness. The frigid temperatures, high winds and snowfall were major factors in the death toll being so high. Someone even wrote a song titled “The Murderous Blizzard”. No typical blizzard will ever compare to it, none in history. The death tolled could have been minimal or better yet nonexistent if there had been technology in place to protect the people in those counties.

Here is the story

The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, School Children's Blizzard, or Children's Blizzard,[3] hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses.

The Schoolhouse/Children's Blizzard of 1888. The blizzard was preceded by a snowstorm from January 6 through January 11, which dropped snow on the northern and central plains and was followed by an outbreak of brutal cold from January 7 to January 11.

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."

On January 11, a strengthening surface low dropped south-southeastward out of Alberta, Canada into central Montana and then into northeastern Colorado by the morning of January 12. The temperatures in advance of the low increased some 20–40 degrees in the central plains (for example, Omaha, Nebraska recorded a temperature of −6 °F (−21 °C) at 7 a.m. on January 11, while the temperature had increased to 28 °F (−2 °C) by 7 a.m. on January 12). The strong surface low rapidly moved into southeastern Nebraska by 3 p.m. on January 12 and finally into southwestern Wisconsin by 11 p.m. that same day. On January 11, the massive cold air mass that had formed around January 8 around Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, had reached a spread of over 780 miles (1,255 km).

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 −20 degrees Fahrenheit (-29 degrees Celsius) [−40 °F (−40 °C) 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." The Boston Daily Advertiser reported under the headline "Midnight at Noon" that "At Fargo....mercury 47° below zero and a hurricane blowing...At Neche, Dak. the thermometer is 58° below zero."

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 all the way down in 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.

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