| 1949 |
January
1-6
Idaho - Nevada - Utah - Montana - Wyoming - Colorado-North Dakota-South
Dakota-Nebraska
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One of the most severe blizzards of record in the Great
Basin, middle Rockies, and northwestern Great Plains. Snowfall from
7 to more than 30 in. (41-in. state reocrd at Chadron, Nebr.); winds
40 to 70 mi/h, snow drifted badly and reduced visibility to less than
5 feet most of 3rd and 4th in many areas, especially at Rapid City.
S. Dak.; temperatures below zero. Roads blocked; farms, towns, and livestock
isolated by deep snow and drifts 10 to 30 ft high. Airlift brought medical
supplies and food to isolated communities and hay to starving livestock.
Deaths: 12 in Wyoming, 7 in Colorado, and 20 in Nebraska. Expenditures
for relief operations, and for opening and reopening roads ran to millions
of dollars. Livestock losses heavy -- in excess of $9 million in Wyoming
alone.
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