Historic Blizzard Keeps Us Stuck Inside All Week

A snowy Century Ave.

Last Tuesday at this time, most of North Dakota was getting blasted with a historic blizzard that lasted 3 days. We have experienced blizzards before, but this was probably the worst most people in the state had ever gone through. For me, it brought back memories of the catastrophic blizzard that occurred at the beginning of April in 1997. At that time, I lived in Fargo.

What made that storm so bad is that many parts of the state had already received 100 inches of snow throughout the winter. That wasn't the case this year, as the central and western parts of the state have had severe drought conditions. While most people were thankful for the moisture this blizzard brought, it didn't come without its challenges (especially for the ranchers who were in the midst of calving).

The good news is, the storm was not unexpected. As a result, people could make preparations in advance. The most I needed to do to prepare was make sure we had plenty of groceries and that Faith had all the supplies she needed to make it through at least a week. I couldn't run those errands, however, because our van was in the shop (it had a leak in the EVAP system).

My dad came to the rescue and drove me around so I could run my errands. The last stop I made was the grocery store. The store was jam packed and a lot of the shelves were bare. Everyone seemed to be preparing for the Apocalypse instead of a major snow storm! Even though there was no snow yet, schools and businesses were already closing. I knew Faith would not be going to therapy or her day program the next day. She took the news surprisingly well. I have tried to instill in her that there are three things that can cause plans to change: the weather, sickness, and car trouble (or elevator trouble in our case!)

Sure enough, early Tuesday morning, we were covered in a sea of white and it didn't quit snowing and blowing until Thursday night. Finally on Friday, the snow stopped long enough for people to start digging out with their snow plows, snow blowers, and shovels. My dad used his Bobcat to clear out their yard and on Friday he and my mom were able to pick up my fixed fan. Our parking didn't get clear until late that night so they brought the van here on Saturday.

Faith had been doing well through most of this, but I could tell her patience was coming to an end. She was also getting anxious because she did not want to miss church on Sunday. And we didn't, despite the fact we had gotten more snow earlier that morning and the wind had picked up. Our once cleared parking lot was once again filled with snow. I wasn't sure I was going to make it out of our parking spot, but I did! (Thanks to the van being backed in and the all-season tires). The roads weren't the best, but we made it safely to church and back. When it was all said and done, Bismarck got over 20 inches of snow, beating the previous record for the snowiest April ever. North of us, Minot got 36 inches of snow. It was definitely an Easter to remember for us and others across the state.

Faith is a super happy camper today because she got to go back to occupational therapy and her day program. But alas, another storm is on the way. I better start preparing for that one!