20 Year Anniversary of 1997 Record October Snowstorm

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Spring 2025 Frost/Freeze Info (includes average/extreme last frost/freeze dates, etc...PROBABLY no concerns through rest of the spring?

20 Year Anniversary of October 25-26 1997 Record Snowstorm

20 years ago, the Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa area was hit hard with an early-season snowstorm. Some locations received as much as 12 to 24 inches of heavy wet snow on October 25-26, 1997. Temperatures had been in the 70s and 80s the week leading up to the snowstorm and many areas had yet to have the first hard freeze of the season. Thus most trees where behind schedule on losing their leaves and the heavy wet snow took down thousands of tree limbs across the region. Consequently, falling trees knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people, cost tens of millions to clean up, and took the lives of 5 people.

This map shows this historic snowfall and some of the heaviest snow reports.

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