November 11, 1940 – The Armistice Day Blizzard
The Armistice Day Blizzard ranks #2 on the Minnesota Top Five weather events of the 20th century. Ask any Minnesotan born before 1940 and they can tell you where they were during the Armistice Day Blizzard.
The weather was relatively benign the morning of the November 11, 1940. At 7:00 am, the temperature was 55 degrees. Many people were outdoors, taking advantage of the mild November weather.
The weather forecast that morning was for colder temperatures and a few flurries. Few people were prepared for what was to come. Hundreds of duck hunters were overtaken by the storm. Winds came suddenly then masses of ducks arrived flying low to the ground. Hunters, awed by the unending flocks of birds, failed to recognize the weather signs that change was in process. The storm started with rain. However, the rain quickly turned to snow. By the time the blizzard tapered off on the 12th, the Twin Cities had received 16.7 inches of snow.
Armistice Day was a holiday and there was no school. School Sisters of Notre Dame, teaching at Saint Matthew’s School, left the convent and walked to downtown Saint Paul after breakfast. They did some shopping. As they left Saint Paul Book and Stationery, the weather had changed and the wind and snow made it impossible to see. The Sisters found their way to the Saint Paul Hotel and sought shelter there. That night they, along with many others, slept on the floor of the hotel lobby. In the morning, the storm tapered off and a Good Samaritan offered the Sisters a ride back to the convent on the West Side.
The Armistice Day Blizzard, along with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, and the Halloween Storm of 1991, etc. are among the legends Minnesotans retell with great gusto.
Enjoy Monday, November 11th — it should be a Minnesota holiday.
Father Steve Adrian
Pastor Emeritus
1940-11-11. “Armistice Day Blizzard, Robbinsdale, Minnesota.” Robbinsdale Historical Society, Accessed November 8, 2024. https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll62:5
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