Despite today's snow, Halloween Blizzard Of 1991 records aren't threatened

MINNEAPOLIS — When it comes to Halloween successful Minnesota, you tin expect to perceive nan sounds of ghosts and goblins. You tin besides expect nan sound of lifelong Minnesotans (Gen X aliases older) collectively reminding nan never-not-reminded remainder of Minnesota astir that 1 clip it snowed a batch connected Halloween.

While WCCO meteorologist Joseph Dames says this year's Halloween forecast does telephone for immoderate snowflakes, it will beryllium thing compared to nan activity of achromatic that plopped down connected nan area 33 years ago.

The Halloween Blizzard of 1991 is simply a communicative that is brought up twelvemonth aft twelvemonth arsenic a badge of grant for those who lived done it. Blustery winds and plummeting temperatures connected Halloween nighttime made going house-to-house for trick-or-treaters aliases conscionable astir anyplace a challenge.

But Halloween nighttime was conscionable nan start.

On nan spooky nighttime itself, Minneapolis-St. Paul sewage conscionable complete 8 inches of snow. And connected nan adjacent day? Another 18.5 inches. The time aft that different inch fell. And connected Nov. 3, a fewer much tenths of an inch, bringing a whopping 28.4 inches of snow, nan biggest azygous large wind still connected record.

But location was an moreover bigger arena astir a decade prior. Two consecutive snowstorms deed nan Twin Cities conscionable days isolated successful January of 1982. Those 2 waves resulted successful 37.4 inches, which is importantly much than moreover nan famed 1991 Halloween blizzard.

Former WCCO squad personnel reminisces

Former WCCO Meteorologist Paul Huttner remembers nan around-the-clock updates connected a blustery Nov. 1 morning.

"It came accelerated and was a shock," Huttner recalled. "We're saying that's going to beryllium much than 20 inches of snow! That's not really going to happen, right?"

As nan Twin Cities woke up, nan snowfall picked up, astatine times falling 2 inches an hour. The wet, dense snowfall collapsed rooftops and stranded firefighters. Police swapped their squads for snowmobiles to navigate nan roads while others utilized skis to get down nan street.

"As a meteorologist, you ever want to activity nan large storm," Huttner said. "As I saw location that morning, I knew it was huge. I had nary thought this would guidelines arsenic nan biggest snowstorm successful Twin Cities history arsenic I beryllium present 30 years later."

That blizzard near mountains snowfall connected nan ground. It melted distant astir a week later, but we picked up different 14 inches complete Thanksgiving. And that snowfall stuck astir until early March.

Jason DeRusha and Esme Murphy contributed to this report.

In:
• Minnesota
• Snow Storm
• St. Paul
• Blizzard
• Halloween
• Minneapolis