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Thank you for stopping by the Weather Watch 12 Blog! Many of us have great momories of Halloween, but I’m guessing few of those memories include snow on Halloween. Since our weather is quiet I thought I would look back at my most memorable Halloween!
Back in 1991 I was in the 7th grade, and experienced one of the most significant weather events of my life. At the end of school on that October 31, I headed home as a steady rain began. Instead of trick-or-treating I opted to hand out candy and stay dry. By 4 p.m., the rain began to mix with snow, I thought this was pretty cool, snow on Halloween! By 6 p.m. moderate to heavy snow was falling and the ground was white…AWESOME!
The cool feeling of this storm then turned to crazy. Snow continued from light to heavy for the next 60 to 72 hours! In my hometown of Windom, MN I measured around 17 to 19 inches of snow. The snow was tough to measure because it whipped around in winds of 40+mph. This storm was historic from snow records that were set, to record cold temperatures that followed over the next week to 10 days.
Here is the surface map from the morning of October 31, 1991.
Below is the track of the strong low pressure center as it strengthened and moved northeast from October 31 to November 3.
Notice that this storm ‘bombed out”, much like the intense low that hit our area earlier this week! While Milwaukee was to the right of the low, in the warmer sector at the start, record cold blasted in as the low lifted to the north. Four records(2 record lows, 2 record low maximums) were set with this storm that still stand. Here are the two record lows that were set at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Airport after the storm passed.
- November 7 +9 degrees
- November 8 +12 degrees
The core of the heavy snow fell over Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. Some spots near the Lake Superior snow belt saw over 30″ of snow! Below is the snow accumulation map from the 1991 Halloween Blizzard.
This storm still ranks as the worst winter storm I’ve ever experienced.
Do you have a memory from this storm? If you do please share it in the comments section of the blog! The good news for Halloween 2010, it will be dry with highs around 50!
Have a happy and safe Halloween!
Jeremy Nelson
WeatherWatch 12 
I’m so jealous! that’s incredible and fascinating!
Great recap of that storm, Jeremy. In 1991 I was 15 years old and a freshman in HS. For the life of me I can’t put specific memories to the event, but I do recall many chilly Friday nights watching our varsity football and soccer teams prior to the 31st. I am sure the reason for feeling chilly was due to “being awesome” and not dressing appropriately for the weather conditions.
The storm was much more memorable for those living in Minnesota and NW WI. But the very cold temperatures that followed spread across southeast Wisconsin too. Behind that storm set the record for the earliest below zero reading in my area…I think it occurred either November 3 or 4!
Jeremy
For all the snow lovers that sounded like a whopper storm. Fortunately, I was living and working in AZ at the time so I don’t recall this storm. Guess I didn’t pay too much attention to midwest weather while living in AZ. The most snow I recall in one storm was 18 inches when I was living and working in northern IL back in the late 70’s.