25th Anniversary of '91 Halloween storm

[Rebel SS]

Remember this one? Halloween of '91. Boy, we got slammed! Power lines down, cars stranded, walloped with snow and blizzard conditions. I was on 12 hr night shifts at that time. I remember I got home in the morning about 6:45 am, and just a typical October day. Hit the sack around 10:00 am after raking, I remember that. Woke at the usual time of 5:00 PM, wife usually had the coffee on and supper ready, first thing ya smelled. Nothing.... no noise.....? Got out of bed, hollered for her, while I took a bleary-eyed look out the window. WTH?! All I could see was a white window....I remember I couldn't figger out what the hey was going on...so I went back and put on my glasses. KEERIPES!!!  A friggin' blowin', snowin' blizzard! She called; had become stuck when trying to leave work, and went back in.  I was expected to be back at work at 6:00 PM, and we took no excuses...you were scheduled, you worked, come hell or high water.  I made it in, she made it home. We passed each other on the way, honked and waved....   What a mess. Iced-up everything; power lines down, blowing snow. Patrolling was a disastrous mess that nite. Tons of accidents and stranded folks. I think I got to go home after 18 hours....
Share some of your memories of this one, if you have any!

[glenn57]

i took my chevy truck and pulled fords around all day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gunner55]

I think that's the 1 where my sister & BIL were without power for almost a week. Now they have a portable generator. They live about 1/2 way between Austin & Albert Lea . The ice went all the way down to Clear Lake & a lot of people without power in N Ia.

[Rebel SS]

Ya Gunner, they got hammered pretty good SW of here by I 90. Here's some good pics...


http://www.startribune.com/13-photos-that-perfectly-capture-the-halloween-blizzard-of-1991/338843092/#13

[deadeye]

I remember it quite well.  I lived in Coon Rapids at the time and my son and his friends took the snowmobiles down I94 and up to the Metrodome parking lot.  I probably  have a picture they took somewhere. 

[Dotch]

Wrote about it in this week's episode of Fencelines. Was so glad when the power came back on. The first order of business was to take a shower! Friends whose power hadn'the been restored found out and came over to do the same thing.

[LPS]

I worked for the City of Mahtomedi then and lived in Stillwater.  We went in a started plowing snow.  It kept on coming down.  We finished and had to redo the roads that we did first.  We got 16".  The sun came out and got bright as heck.  Our Supervisor said go home and get some sleep and I will call you when you need to come back and start over.  I said what are you talking about?  He said it is coming back and I thought he was just up for too many hours.  Well about 8? hours later the storm came back and we got exactly another 16"...  It was harder to plow since we already had it pushed up so high already...  One heck of a plowing marathon.  Lot's of people died shoveling snow during that storm.  Heart attacks.  I knew one of them...   The Perfect Storm that brought the snow all of the way here. 

[LPS]

So of course that was 32" in a day and a half.  Unreal.  Thanks for bringing this up Rebs.  Quite a memory....  I will never forget it.... 

[deadeye]

Did anyone hunt deer that year.  I went out for the opener and the following weekend.  On the opener which was several days after the storm, we had to go in with snowmobiles because no 4 wheel drives could make it back to my land. (My uncle owned it at that time).  It was a lot of work but we did ok.  My son and nephew teamed up on a nice 8 point.  They were in stands about 100 yards apart and the deer ran between them, two shots rang out as one.  Upon inspection, both shots were killing shots one from each side.  My son said he saw the deer running towards them but wasn't sure what it was because it was totally silent.  The second weekend my sons chased a big doe to me.  That day we had gone in with the snowmobiles pulling sleds with our equipment tied in them.  When we got ready to leave one machine wouldn't start.  We trained together the broken snowmobile and two sleds with gear and the big doe. We pointed the train down a slight grade, the three of us pushed to get it going and then hopped on.  I told my boys to hang on because if we got moving, I wasn't about to stop.  The old Rupp 440 bellored like hell but I never got off the throttle.  Somehow we made it back the mile and a half to the road.

[glenn57]

We hunted that year to. I remember it well cause it was the first winter I had a 4wheel drive vehicle. Shot a deer too! Had another party with a snowmobile dead it out for me. It was up north but think they only had 8 inches of snow!

[dew2]

  I hunted south of Duluth, The normal 400 acre woods we hunted couldn't get to it ,No plowed roads so we hunted out the back door in 120 acre woods. Of 7 of us only two had snowshoes me and my brothers friend, we walked trails to compact 44 inches of snow so everyone could get out.
 Luckly at home we had a D4 cat to open the 1300ft driveway to the house. I was working in the cities that year when everything came to a halt!
Glenn I shot 5 that year, got laid off after that snow so I stayed there till Christmas then went to Texas to work.

[Leech~~]

Did anyone hunt deer that year.  I went out for the opener and the following weekend.  On the opener which was several days after the storm, we had to go in with snowmobiles because no 4 wheel drives could make it back to my land. (My uncle owned it at that time).  It was a lot of work but we did ok.  My son and nephew teamed up on a nice 8 point.  They were in stands about 100 yards apart and the deer ran between them, two shots rang out as one.  Upon inspection, both shots were killing shots one from each side.  My son said he saw the deer running towards them but wasn't sure what it was because it was totally silent.  The second weekend my sons chased a big doe to me.  That day we had gone in with the snowmobiles pulling sleds with our equipment tied in them.  When we got ready to leave one machine wouldn't start.  We trained together the broken snowmobile and two sleds with gear and the big doe. We pointed the train down a slight grade, the three of us pushed to get it going and then hopped on.  I told my boys to hang on because if we got moving, I wasn't about to stop.  The old Rupp 440 bellored like hell but I never got off the throttle.  Somehow we made it back the mile and a half to the road.

Ahhh, those are the hunts the boys will remember for a life time when their kids are whining about how chili it is out Dad! 

We were out there, the old 65' jacked up Int Scout made it through the old logging roads just fine. Man I loved that old tank! 

[Jerkbiat]

WOW. 25 years already, starting to make me feel old. I lived in Rogers at the time at my parents farm. I remember we were supposed to get about 6" of snow and I had a brand new snowmobile in the shed so I had picked up some gas for it so I could maybe try it out the next day. I had the day off to bow hunt, I had sat in the morning and on the way back to the truck seen many deer on the move. I had to help the guy that hauled corn for us load the semi and by the time we had got done it was starting to snow. He left and I unhooked the tractor from the auger and put it in the shed not knowing we were going to get dumped on. After that I had walked across the road to my Grandparents. My Grandpa was outside so I went over to visit with him. While we were standing there talking we were watching a bunch of deer running around out in the neighbors hay fields. We knew some thing was going on, was pretty crazy. The next morning a buddy and I were supposed to go out duck hunting. Boy was I surprised when I got out of bed. Called him up and said it is not going to happen. The road in front of the house was actually lower then the fields were on each side by about 4 feet so it was drifted shut bad. My uncle even end up digging out the snow plow with the tractor and loader because he was stuck. The county had to call in a big snow blower to clear the road. It was rather amazing the snow we got. Needless to say I put over 300 miles on that new snowmobile that weekend. Did not gun hunt in MN. that year, I was out bow hunting in Wisconsin that year.

[Rebel SS]

Another great video....

http://www.kttc.com/story/33521712/2016/10/31/from-the-newscenter-archive-a-look-back-at-the-1991-halloween-blizzard