Schoolhouse Blizzard

The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, School Children's Blizzard, or Children's Blizzard, hit the U.S. Great Plains on January 12, 1888. With an estimated 235 deaths, it is the world's 10th deadliest winter storm on record.

The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses.

The weather prediction for the day was issued by the Weather Bureau, which at the time was managed by Brigadier General Adolphus Greely. The indications officer (forecaster), Lieutenant Thomas Mayhew Woodruff in St. Paul, Minnesota, said: "A cold wave is indicated for Dakota and Nebraska tonight and tomorrow; the snow will drift heavily today and tomorrow in Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin."

On January 11, a strengthening surface low dropped south-southeastward out of the Alberta District in Canada's North-West Territories into central Montana Territory and then into northeastern Colorado by the morning of January 12. The temperatures in advance of the low increased some 20 to 40 °F (11–22 °C) in the central plains (for example, Omaha, Nebraska, recorded a temperature of −6 °F (−21 °C) at 7 a.m. on January 11, while the temperature had increased to 28 °F (−2 °C) by 7 a.m. on January 12). The strong surface low rapidly moved into southeastern Nebraska by 3 p.m. on January 12 and finally into southwestern Wisconsin by 11 p.m. that same day. On January 11, the massive cold air mass that had formed around January 8 around Medicine Hat and Qu'Appelle, Assiniboia District, had reached a spread of over 780 miles (1,255 km).

The blizzard was precipitated by the collision of an immense Arctic cold front with warm moisture-laden air from the Gulf of Mexico. Within a few hours, the advancing cold front caused a temperature drop from a few degrees above freezing to −20 °F (−29 °C) [−40 °F (−40 °C) in some places]. This wave of cold was accompanied by high winds and heavy snow. The fast-moving storm first struck Montana in the early hours of January 12, swept through Dakota Territory from midmorning to early afternoon, and reached Lincoln, Nebraska, at 3 p.m.

Many who were caught unaware misjudged the weather due to a warm spell. Carl Saltee, a teenage Norwegian immigrant in Fortier, Minnesota, remembered that "... on the 12th of January 1888 around noontime it was so warm it melted snow and ice from the window until after 1 p.m." This changed rapidly for the teenager who continued that by 3:30 p.m. "A dark and heavy wall built up around the northwest coming fast, coming like those heavy thunderstorms, like a shot. In a few moments, we had the severest snowstorm I ever saw in my life with a terrible hard wind, like a Hurricane, snow so thick we could not see more than 3 steps from the door at times." The Boston Daily Advertiser reported under the headline "Midnight at Noon" that "At Fargo ... mercury 47° below zero and a hurricane blowing ... At Neche, Dak. the thermometer is 58° below zero."

What made the storm so deadly was the timing (during work and school hours), the suddenness of the storm, and the brief spell of warmer weather that preceded it. In addition, the very strong wind fields behind the cold front and the powdery nature of the snow reduced visibilities on the open plains to zero. People ventured from the safety of their homes to do chores, go to town, attend school, or simply enjoy the relative warmth of the day. As a result, thousands of people — including many schoolchildren — got caught in the blizzard. The death toll was 235, though some estimate 1,000. Teachers generally kept children in their schoolrooms. Exceptions nearly always resulted in disaster.

This cold front was so self-reinforced that it dropped temperatures as far south as Veracruz, Mexico, before dissipating.