BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – This year marks the 60th anniversary of one of the worst blizzards in North Dakota history. Strong winds and heavy snow left a path of destruction in March of 1966.

March 2–4 brought over two feet of snow and wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. If you combine the snow and the wind, some locations ended up with drifts of 30 to 40 feet tall.

There were eight deaths in North Dakota and Minnesota from the storm. Unlike previous winter storms, televised news and radio announcements gave people time to prepare beforehand; however, some became lost in the whiteout conditions and froze, while others died of overexertion after the storm trying to dig out.

Additionally, around 18,500 head of cattle, 7,500 sheep, 600 hogs and 7,000 turkeys were lost during the storm, totaling an estimated almost $4 million. When the snow was deep enough, some of the cattle trampled fences and wandered off.

This blizzard halted transportation with the massive drifts and over 40 hours of whiteout conditions. Trains and cars became stuck in drifts, and passengers on trains had to take shelter in local towns.

One of the most iconic pictures in North Dakota history came as a result of this blizzard. Two Department of Transportation workers noticed the snow drifts burying a utility pole along the train tracks when they were helping dig out a train that had become stuck.

The blizzard of 1966 became the storm all other storms are compared to. Another historic blizzard occurred in early April of 1997. Both storms resulted in very similar numbers for snow totals and wind gusts.

The highest snow total was 33 inches in 1997 and 32 inches in 1966. The Bismarck Airport, which has very reliable data, recorded that at the peak of each storm, the airport reached a maximum wind gust of 64 miles per hour in 1966 and 60 miles per hour in 1997.

But what really set these storms apart was the total number of hours with blizzard conditions. In 1966, Bismarck experienced 43 hours of blizzard conditions, while in 1997, there were only 14 hours, even though that storm was a day longer.

Another difference between these two blizzards was that the 1966 storm started and remained mostly snow. The 1997 storm started as freezing rain before switching to snow.

Other more recent, well-known spring blizzards that have been compared to 1966 were April 13–15 of 2013 and April 12–14 of 2022.