Looking back at the blizzard of 1966 Remembering the March 1966 storm that paralyzed Winnipeg
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/03/2018 (3101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
On March 4, 1966, daily life in Winnipeg was brought to a halt by a monster blizzard.
Snow began falling just after midnight March 4. By morning, schools were closed, along with most stores and businesses.
The city was battered by 80 km/h winds that gusted up to 109 km/h, and when it was all over, there was 35.5 centimetres of snow on the ground, an amount that would not be surpassed until 43.2 centimetres piled up in April 1997.
In howling winds and blowing snow, streets were littered with abandoned cars, trucks and transit buses. Doctors and nurses were famously ferried to work on snowmobiles.
In Westwood, there were reports of 2.4-metre drifts, while downtown 1,600 people were forced to spend the night inside the Bay and Eaton’s as hundreds more remained trapped in buses stuck on snow-covered streets. Two men died of heart attacks trying to walk home.
In the final edition of the Free Press March 4, 1966, the headline screamed: Wild Blizzard Rakes Province — Worst in History.
History
Updated on Thursday, March 4, 2021 2:41 PM CST: Updated.
