I’m starting this week with a “mea culpa” — I had the dates for the GOP and Dem-NPL conventions mixed up in my previous D’Ya NoDak. The Democrats are meeting in Bismarck this weekend, March 6-8, and the Republicans are meeting in Minot at the end of the month. Both could be very interesting, and I’ll be live blogging updates from both.
→ You can find the live blog for the Dem-NPL Convention here — it'll be updated when the convention begins on March 6.
Anniversary of March 1966 Blizzard
This week is the 60th anniversary of the historic blizzard of March 1966.
I was nine years old, living in south Bismarck. There are several things I remember from that storm: One, the size of the snowdrifts outside the house. Two, it was the only time in my life where I suffered frostbite. Three, the two network television stations lost their network feeds (which came on AT&T lines), and we watched old movies and old cartoons. Four, schools were closed, but even after they reopened, we couldn’t get there because of all the snow. Then the pictures in the Bismarck Tribune of the snow drifts.
That was an intense storm.
A year later, we had the May 1 blizzard. It wasn’t as intense, but reminded me of that historic blizzard the year before.
In 1997, we had the blizzard that led to the massive flooding on the Red River. I spent a few nights at the station, eating soup and bread until plows reached us, and warmer weather did the rest. I bring that one up because a meteorologist at UND said that storm equaled – or surpassed – the 1966 blizzard.
I still watch the weather forecasts carefully. And if it looks like another blizzard, I’m ready with cans of soup and changes of clothes.
