An icicle hangs from a rural mail box. With ice covered roads and rural residents reporting travel is next to impossible, it may be a few days before the mail is delivered.
Cleaning sidewalks in Superior has been challenging this week. First they were coated with a thick glaze of ice, then with fine wind packed snow which seemed to attach to the ice before beginning covered with more hard packed snow. Above, Andrew Carter and his son, Baxter, move snow in front of Superior Pharmacy late Sunday evening.
Some folks apparently thought the fall's string of nice weather would never end. Others warned the December fog meant we were in store for stormy weather in March. Some scoffed on Saturday morning at the National Weather Service forecast of a major weekend storm bearing down on this area. One visitor to the newspaper office on Saturday morning said he had checked his phone and the storm was passing to the northeast of this area. Another older man, when told he should hurry and get home before the storm arrived asked, "What storm?" He hadn't been keeping watch on the weather and assumed since Saturday started mild it would continue that way.. It didn't.
As the day progressed, a light mist began falling and soon streets and walks were glazed with ice.
Before the storm passed out of the area Sunday night, all highways in Kansas would be closed and travel was difficult, if not impossible in much of Nebraska. Some places got mostly rain that turned to ice, others got a foot or more of snow. Superior appeared to be on the edge of the storm. Places like Mankato, Beloit and Belleville got it much worse.
The National Weather Service reported Superior received 4 inches of snow and 0.16 of an inch of moisture. Burr Oak received 8 inches of snow and 1 inch of moiture. Snowfall at Beloit was 10 inches with .90 of inch of moisture. Smith Center received two inches of snow and .33 of an inch of moisture.
While much of the precipitation came as mist or sleet, the temperature was such it immediately froze on surfaces. The temperature was so low that treatments used to keep ice from forming on roads, did not work. Thankfully there were few reports of problems with downed power lines or broken trees.
And though both Monday and Tuesday had periods of bright sunshine, little melting occurred and rural travel was still difficult at mid-week.
Area snowfall totals from various sources included Tipton, 16 inches, Osborne, 16 inches, Beloit, 14 inches, Cawker City, 10 inches, Downs, 9 inches, Burr Oak, 8 inches, Lexington, 6 inches, Fairfield, 6 inches, Superior, 6 inches, Red Cloud 4.3 inches, Stockton 4.1 inches, Ohiowa, 3.8 inches, Giltner, 3 inches, Minden, 3 inches, Cozad 3 inches, Holdrege, 3 inches, Central City 2 inches, Aurora, 2 inches, Bradshaw 2 inches, Grand Island 1.7 inches and York 1.4 inches.
Because of the high wind that accompanied the storm it was hard to accurately measure the snow depth.
This week's storm will be remembered for a while, but unless you were directly affected by it, the memory of the storm will soon be confined to a historical blur as have many previous storms.
While shut-in by this week's storm, an Express reporter went in search of other major storms to impact this area that have been forgotten by most. One he found was the Thanksgiving Storm of 1952. It is unlikely many of our readers will remember it. It received front page placement in the Nov. 27, 1952, issue of this newspaper but it was overshadowed by a fire that gutted the interior of Superior's VFW Club located on what is now a vacant lot directly north of the Superior Spirits store.
Before we tell you about the Thanksgiving storm, we want to share a bit about the VFW fire. The following comes from that week's Express.
Fire early Saturday morning gutted the Veterans of Foreign Wars club rooms in Superior. The furniture and equiplment including a shuffle board and music box were a total loss. The interior walls, floor and ceiling of the rooms were badly damaged.
The blaze also damaged the Auxiliary Hall located in the upstairs of the same building. The flames came in through the hall's front windows from the fire below.
The blaze was discovered by Lyle Fenimore at about 3:15 a.m. The fire department was there soon after the alarm was sent in amd quickly brought the fire under control.
And now the story about the Thanksgiving Blizzard which altered the travel plans of many. The Express reporter wrote "Superior, with the rest of the midwest, is digging out, after one of its worst ever November blizzards. The sun is shining brightly this (Wednesday) morning and the snow banks will probably not last long."
The snow started falling lightly Monday afternoon, melting as it fell. Tuesday moring the storm struck, gaining in intensity all day. All roads were blocked and transporttion halted on all railroads and highways. Cars stalled along all highways and there were a few accidents.
The snow was drifted badly by the strong wind that blew all day Tuesday, but the snow was wet and quite a lot of it meltled before it had a chance to blow away and for that the farmers were happy.
Most of the country schools and many town schools were closed Wednesday, but school was being held in Superior as usual. In those days it was thought any student living in Superior could walk to school and so school was seldom called off.
Highways were covered with a sheet of ice Wednesday, and travel was extemely hazardous. Most Thanksgiving trips were postponed and college young people got home a day or more later than they had planned, if at all.
Highway parolman were busy Tuesday and Wednesday pulling cars out of ditches. Tuesday night the two Superior patrolman were called to help get a maternity case from a farm home to the hospital.
The patrol car, while parked along Highway 14, three miles north of town was hit by a large oil transport, which jacknifed as it skidded on the icy paving. No one was in the car when it was hit and there were no injuries.
Reader Comments(0)