Wednesday, Feb. 02, 2011
The Halloween Blizzard, October 1991
The Halloween Blizzard of 1991 touched down in Minnesota and Iowa one day before the spooky holiday, and warm air wrapping around the low-pressure area changed precipitation into a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain on Halloween itself. In Iowa, up to 2 in. (5 cm) of ice accumulated, shutting down I-35 and leaving 80,000 homes without power. Crop damage was estimated at about $5 million — making it the most costly ice storm in Iowa's history. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, where damage amounted to about $11 million, nearly a dozen counties were declared federal disaster zones.