Did You Know?

Though much of the nation did not experience a particularly cold winter during the 1996-1997 season, both North and South Dakota experienced one of the most brutal winters in recent memory. A combination of extreme cold, snow and blowing snow made for living conditions that were, at the very least, unbearable! The arctic air mass over the Northern Plains did not move southward across the remainder of the United States. This was primarily due to persistent westerly winds in the middle levels of the atmosphere. Thus, the far northern states were held in a virtual icebox for weeks at a time this past winter.