On October 30th, meteorologists were eying a large storm in the Southwest United States. Unknown to anyone at the time, it was about to bring massive snowfall and blizzard conditions to much of Minnesota over a three-day period, starting on Halloween. By storm’s end on November 2nd, snowfall records in Duluth (36.9 inches) and the Twin Cities (28.4 inches) were left in its wake. That was followed by the cold, bringing the earliest below-zero temperatures in over a century. The National Weather Service describes the storm as one of Minnesota's signature extreme weather events, and stands as a benchmark against which other winter storms are compared.
November 4, 1991 - MPR’s Liz Hannon interviews John O’Rourke, mayor of Austin, about the impact storm system on city. While Austin only received about an inch of snow, they also received a couple inches of ice, damaging trees and powerlines. Much of the town was left without power in dropping temperatures.
November 5, 1991 - Midmorning’s Paula Schroeder interviews Patrick Hansen, a National Guard captain, about distribution of generators for rural residents without power after Halloween blizzard hit much of the state.
November 5, 1991 - MPR’s Bill Wareham reports on some reasons behind slow roads. Jim Scheibel, St. Paul mayor, explains issues with plowing certain areas of town. Bob Otto, Minneapolis maintenance engineer, shares challenges of plows getting stuck and winds blowing snow back onto cleared areas.
November 6, 1991 - MPR’s Bill Catlin interviews MNDOT and MTC officials about what went wrong with maintaining roads and bus service in the Twin Cities during and after Halloween blizzard. Topic on communication issues is highlighted.
November 6, 1991 - MPR’s Gary Eichten interviews naturalist about how animals are adapting to to massive snowstorm. The different experiences of small birds, squirrels, pheasants, and deer are detailed. Not surprisingly, hibernators are the big winners.
November 15, 1996 - Voices from the Heartland presents poet Diane Glancy reading "Snow," which is a reflection on the Halloween blizzard of 1991.