The Armistice Day Storm

In 1940 they were having an autumn that was very similar to what we’ve had this year. The temperatures were mild and the weather was beautiful. On Armistice Day many had time off from work and school and the duck hunters among them headed out for a day on the marshes of the Mississippi river. They dressed lightly as the temperatures were in the 60’s by mid-day.

But then a front moved in from northern Minnesota and the weather changed fast. First it began to rain and then the rain turned to sleet and then snow. The wind began to blow and in no time it was gusting between 50 and 80 miles per hour. The snow turned into a blizzard dumping over 2 feet onto the ground and piling up 20 foot drifts.

Ahead of the blizzard the ducks flew by the thousands. Hunters who afterward shared their story said they’d never seen so many ducks and geese. Many hunted too long and by the time they realized their mistake it was too late. Some tried to sit it out on the small islands in the river. Some tried to get back to land in their duck boats. For many it was their last day of duck hunting and of life.

When the blizzard subsided two days later 166 people had died in the mid-west. Sixty six of them were aboard three freighters on Lake Michigan that sank in the storm. 50 were duck hunters, found frozen under their duck boats on islands, many with their arms wrapped around their trusty duck dogs. One hunter was found knee deep in a pond with his hands holding onto a branch of a tree overhead, frozen solid.

This happened 70 years ago on the day we now call Veterans Day.

post by: Dan Bomkamp