National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

 

50th Anniversary of the

March 2nd-5th, 1966 Blizzard

 

Fifty years ago a strong winter storm moved through the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. This brought widespread blizzard conditions to the region. The brunt of the impacts were felt in the Dakotas, but parts of Minnesota saw snowfall for 3 straight days.

Across northern Minnesota snow amounts from this system were up to 2-3 feet, which brought snow depths up to 51 inches. Due to this system, International Falls March monthly record snow depth was set and still stands at 38 inches from the 5th through the 7th.

Heavy snow combined with strong winds, which resulted in impassable highways and roadways throughout northern Minnesota and the Dakotas.

For more information on this event click on the links below to see where the brunt of the storm caused major widespread impacts.

For northwest Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, click here

For central and western North Dakota, click here

For eastern South Dakota, click here

For western South Dakota, click here

March 2-5, 1966 Storm Total Snowfall

 

March 5-6, 1966 Maximum Snow Depth

 

A few of the original hand written

reports from CO-OP observers

1 mile West of Isabella, MN

Cass Lake, MN

Kettle Falls, MN

Walker, MN

 

If you are on Twitter follow #Blizzard66 from March 2nd-4th.