Blizzard of 1949

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January 1, 1949


"Blizzard brought more than a white Christmas” quoted The North Platte Telegraph Plus, Wednesday, December 12, 1949. “The first day of the new year, 1949, began as it often does in Nebraska with snow on the ground and sun shining above. People felt that perhaps they had experienced the last of nature’s wrath. By afternoon, dark clouds formed over the Sand hills region of Nebraska and snow started falling. It was just more to add to what was already on the ground.”

Day by day there were articles following the blizzard. On January 5, 1949, the Omaha World Herald quoted, “Snowplows were in action over Nebraska early Wednesday and the wheels of transportation were beginning to turn in some areas as the blizzard let up. A railway snowplow, late Tuesday night, won a race against pneumonia when it pushed 90 miles through deep snow to a Lincoln man, ill aboard a stalled Burlington train near Seneca.” On February 3, 1949, the Lincoln Journal stated "Two Alliance men were killed late Wednesday when a light plane, which they were flying a on C.A.P. blizzard rescue missions, crashed into a house two and one-half miles northwest of Alliance." The state safety patrol identified the two. He said they were dropping materials for ranchers to mark distress signals when their plane hit a telephone wire. On that day five people were reported dead in the Lincoln Journal.

According to the book, “Blizzard 1949”, the heavy snows began on November 18, 1948 building up to the actual day of the blizzard, January 1, 1949. It began as everyone likes to see in winter. “Cattle and sheep were grazing winter range and growing fat. The announcer, this time from radio station KOA, Denver, predicted another nice day with a possibility of snow flurries. This station was a powerful station that could be heard for hundreds of miles around. In the evening, snow began to fall heavily and soon there were twelve inches on the ground. Snow drifts were already piling up on the highway where bushes or bands stopped the wind.”