TornadoLookup

Home / Minnesota / West Marshall

Blizzard in West Marshall, Minnesota

Blizzard April 5, 1997 – April 6, 1997 · West Marshall, Minnesota

$5.0M
Damage as recorded

The wider storm

With falling temperatures on the back side of the low, the freezing rain changed to snow. A strong pressure gradient created winds up to 65 mph, dropping visibilities down to near zero. The strong wind, on top of heavy ice accumulations, caused thousands of power poles to snap. This cut power to over 100,000 people in eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and caused $30 million in damages to the power infrastructure. With no heat, many people had to seek shelters with generator power. Some smaller communities were without power for more than a week. Snowfall totals on the 6th ranged around 7 inches. Three men from China slid off a road 3 miles south of Borup into a water-filled ditch. Rescuers got stuck 4 times trying to reach the scene. The men were rescued just in time, suffering from hypothermia. The blizzard was especially tough on livestock, with hundreds killed. Interstate 94 was closed from Moorhead to Fergus Falls and US Highway 2 was closed from East Grand Forks to Crookston.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5591904. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.