Out of the Past - 45 years ago - Nov. 24, 1975
Blizzard Blankets Bow with 13 Inches
It snowed last week. KNOP TV in North Platte labeled the storm the “Blizzard of ‘75.”
Deputy County Sheriff Jim Turner reported Friday that they had received no reports of storm related deaths. The Jennie M. Melham Memorial Medical Center Administrator Bob Corey reported that there had been several heart attacks, broken bones and other accidents which he attributed to the storm. Officer Bob Lewis, of the Broken Bow Police Department reported Friday that there had been only three car wrecks in Broken Bow since the start of the storm. The State Patrol could not be reached Friday for a report on the accidents on state and county highways.
KCNI radio station’s weather station recorded that Broken Bow received 13 inches of snow totaling 1.61 inches of moisture. The staff at the station said that the wind gusted up to 52 miles an hour. The cable television weather meters showed gusts of over 60 miles an hour late Thursday.
It started snowing here Wednesday morning about 6 and stopped sometime Friday afternoon. The wind was blowing the snow so much it was impossible to tell if it was still snowing or just drifting.
Reports said that drifts from 8 to 10 feet deep were common. They also reported that Thursday all the surrounding towns were almost completely shut down and that all day Friday was spent digging out. Most said it would be Sunday or Monday before everything would be accessible.
All the roads and highways in the area were closed Wednesday and Thursday. Friday one lane travel was reported. Saturday morning the State Roads Department in Broken Bow reported that only three stretches of road were still closed. Those stretches were the highway between Merna and Arnold, Highway 2’s Spur to Victoria Springs from Anselmo. Highway 91 from Brewster east to the county line. A spokesperson for the Roads Department said Saturday that the crews had worked day and night from Wednesday though Saturday and that they could not say how much longer it would take to open all the roads.
She said that most of the Thursday and Friday were spent rescuing stranded cars and clearing the way for emergency vehicles. The worst problem, she said, was anxious travelers. She did not give an estimate of the cost of the snow removal.
All the roads in town were opened Friday but snow removal continued Saturday. A spokesman for the city streets department could not be reached for comment. They were all out working.
Russel Ullrich, an engineer at the Custer Public Power District, said they had experienced no major power outages. The electricity to 15 or 20 customer about 10 miles north of Broken Bow was off for 24 hours Wednesday and Thursday. Our Litchfield correspondent reported that the south part of Litchfield was without electricity for about 10 hours Thursday morning.