Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1898 — ALMOST A BLIZZARD. [ARTICLE]

ALMOST A BLIZZARD.

Nebraska, lowa and Other States Re* port a Severe Storm. One of the most extraordinary storms that ever disturbed the Western country prevailed Monday might. Though the mercury never passed the freezing limit the storm was accompanied by such a hurricane that in many respects it resembled a midwinter blizzard. Not in the memory of the oldest inhabitant of Nebraska has such a storm occurred so early in the season. This snow was nearly sixty days ahead of the usual time, and in intensity it could be compared with nothing but a January blizzard. In the country districts there is considerable uneasiness with reference to the numerous bands of sheep in the interior. Some apprehension is also felt with reference to cattle on the range, but -the greatest damage will be to sheep. The snow was so heavy as to cut off all telegraphic communication with Chicago. North Platte showed a temperature of 34, with no precipitation. Dodge City, Kan., had 32 degrees, with a killing frost; Santa Fe had 34 degrees, a killing frost, and clear; Cheyenne, Denver and Pueblo each had 26 degrees, with clear weather, and Sioux City reported a forty-mile wind and cloudy weather. The snow melted about as soon as it struck the ground. The unexpected snowstorm hit. the army posts in the Department of the Missouri very hard. With the volunteer soldiers equipped only with summer clothing, they were in no condition to meet the cold weather. The coldest October shown in the record of twenty-eight years in the Omaha weather office was in 1873, when the mean temperature was 48. The lowest temperature recorded in the month during that period was 16 degrees on Oct. 25, 1887. and the heaviest snow for the month was four and one-half inches on Oct. 29, 1894.