Worst Winter

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doubled

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Sep 8, 2007
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Iowa
We finally got above freezing here today, for me its been a long winter already- Was wondering what is everyones worst winter memory-
Mine was 1974 in March I believe, I was in high school and we had snow taller than our machine shed, we were out of school for a week, it took four
days before they could get down our road, we were having calves, I remember digging a hereford out of the snow with a shovel and taking it into the house in
the back porch, I sat and cried and thawed out its ears and feet and tail all morning, finally got it to drink some watered down 7-up and finally milked out
the mamma to give it a bottle. It was the worst I remember.
 

Shebet21

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Apr 15, 2007
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West Central Wisconsin ( Mondovi )
This year is sticking in my head as the worst one we've had for a while. More snow than we're used to and temps have been crazy. Many more sub zero days than I care to think about and then we all of a sudden go up to 40. It's been hard on the calves in the barn.
 

Jill

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Gardner, KS
Thursday we started the day at 0, this afternoon it was 59 and it's supposed to be 61 tomorrow, I'll be shocked if everything doesn't end up with pneumonia.
 

doubled

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Yeah I am worried about that too- Its supposed to be 50 here Monday, and like 25 on Tuesday, too big of a dip, and we have been washing calves and such,
not a good thing, gave shots after the show to try and prevent things
 

KDSC

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Nov 23, 2007
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kansas
Jill said:
Thursday we started the day at 0, this afternoon it was 59 and it's supposed to be 61 tomorrow, I'll be shocked if everything doesn't end up with pneumonia.
That is how it has been here, today it was in the 60's, and tomarrow there is like a 70% chance of snow :'( and then last thursday it was 36 degrees and then friday was 62 degrees

worst winter last year, it was HORRIBLE, :mad: We would wake up every two hours and plow our drive way and the road to the feedyard. other wise our big 4 wheel drive pusher tractor would get stuck because there was so much snow. The kids that lived out in the country were out of school for two weeks, it would take all day to feed cattle where as noramlly it only took an hour. and then the other part of my time was spent unfreezing our gas :'(
 

renegade

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Jun 30, 2007
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Caldwell, Idaho
This has been the worst in the last five years at least. It has been way above average for snow this year and the last like 4 years it has been below average and it goes from 0 to sixty in a matter of days. Three days ago we got about a foot of snow and today it was super warm and the snow melted and there was a LOT of wind.
 

farmboy

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Apr 21, 2007
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south webster ohio
01', icestorm, power off for 30 days, trees exploding every 5 minutes, power lines strung across roads.... that sucked
 

aj

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western kansas
Last year's deal was tough.We had 30 inches of snow that didn't melt for about 3 months. The same deal that hurt Lamar so bad. I remember a 3 day blizzard in 1975. It set back our football playoffs a couple times. We ended up having 2 days to get ready for our first basketball game.We didn't get outside for 3 days. The fourth day we got out and our cows drifted 9 miles. The one afternoon went out in tractor. Dad told me if it whites out just sit and don't drive. Well it whited out and I sit for 2 hours a quarter mile from the house pretty spooked. The wind finally went down and I got home before dark. I don't like to mess with blizzards.I will never forget the feeling of not knowing what direction was what. That was 30 years ago. I still get sick to my stomach when I think about it. I think 5 people died on interstate in that storm.
 

cattlejunky

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indiana
My worst winter was in 77.  Snowed in, no power for 3 to 4 days.  We had a gas stove and that kept us warm.  We had to melt snow for drinks. 
Jill we about the same in the weather department below zero and barely above last week and 49 yesterday.  It is 8:42am now and it is already 46.  We have used so much Aeromycin this year it is crazy. 
 

justintime

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May 26, 2007
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Saskatchewan Canada
Living in Saskatchewan, I have seen lots of weird winter weather over the years. This winter has actually been very good for us... so far. We have had some cold weather but very little wind with it, so it has been liveable for both people and critters. At this point, we have very little snow, and hopefully we will get some in the next two months. We need snow to get our creeks and dugouts filled. We went into winter very very dry. My dad always says of we have to go through a drought, January isn't a bad time to have it.

As for the worst winters I have seen, several come to mind. I am not the best for remembering the years but I do remember a few. The 3 worst storms I have ever seen actually happened in the US.
1974 - a fairly normal winter until March.  I drove to the dispersal sale of Graham Land and Livestock at Waverly, Minnesota. When I left home we had no snow, and the cows were calving in the pasture. It was nice weather at the sale, but it started snowing the day following the sale. By the time I got to Minot, ND the police were stopping traffic. I stayed in Minot for 3 days as the highways had 8 to 10 ft snow drifts over them in places. I remember coming home to the worst mess I have ever seen here. We had to get a payloader in to find our haystacks. Cattle were walking over top of 10 foot porosity fences. Cattle were trapped inside one cattle shed as snow had completely enclosed the front of it. Fortunately, it turned warm following the storm and we went right to a mess of mud.

1978 - winter arrived early. Heavy snow in late October that stayed. We were building our feedlot that fall and we had snow banks over all the fences. Luckily we did not have any cattle in the lot yet. Our cows were still on pasture when the storm hit. Some went into the creek for shelter and were buried. We lost several good cows in that storm. It turned cold and stayed cold almost all winter with numerous bad blizzards. That winter was the closest I have come to thinking about selling the cows.

Two other bad storms cme to mind... both in the mid to late 80s. One happened in March. I had drove to the American Polled Shorthorn Congress sale in Omaha and it was raining when I arrived. When I looked out of my hotel room the next morning, all I could see was small humps in the parking lot, where the vehicles were parked. After a few hours we were able to get down to the AK-Sar-Ben grounds for the show and sale. After the sale, we made it back to the hotel, but only because we had a 4x4 truck. We stayed at the hotel for 3 days as the roads were all blocked. The morning of the 4th day, it turned warm and sunny but the forecast was for another storm. We decided to try to get out of Dodge but the Interstate was still closed. We managed to get around the barracades, but it took us over 6 hours to drive the 100 miles to Sioux City, and we must have seen several hundred abandoned vehicles on the highway. At Sioux City we hit completely dry roads and it was smooth sailing all the way home.
The second storm occurred again on my way to Omaha on October 31st. This time I was flying to the Hoyt Central sale at Blair,NB. The plane landed at Minneapolis in a raging blizzard. It stormed so back that no one could even leave the terminal to go to a hotel. I sat in the terminal for 47 hours and finally got to Omaha, where the storm had just hit. It was just about as bad there. I made it out to the sale, where only 8 people showed up other than the owners.
 

Jill

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Gardner, KS
I think 78 was the worst one here also, after the plow came through the banks of snow were up over the top of the truck.
 

dutch pride

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Sep 17, 2007
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SW Michigan
About this time of year in 1978. Snowed and blowed for 3 days straight. Took snowmobiles into town to get supplies. Everything was closed, schools, work places etc. Cars that got stuck in drifts on roads where totally buried by snow. Several were damaged when plows finally got around to open up some of the country roads. Lots of farmers with large snowblowers on there tractors volunteered to help get the roads cleared. Had a couple of neighbors who are dairy farmers who had to dump their milk a couple of days because the bulk truck could not get through to pick up milk. Had a pretty big storm the next year but nothing like that since. My  kids are 21,18 and 16 and I keep telling them that they do not know what a "real" winter looks like.

DLZ
 

TPX

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Sep 2, 2007
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This winter has been pretty easy on us so far but today got cold fast. Yesterday it was +7c and then when I woke up this morning it was -24c with a wicked wind and it has gotten colder as the day went on they say it is around -47c with the wind chill, all I know is any skin that isnt covered gets numb in seconds.  We have a good calving barn that stays pretty warm but its not good enough for that kinda temps.

The worst winter that I remember (i am not as old as some) was 2003-04 it was cold with lots of snow and wind it seemed like everymorning we walked to the shop to get the tractor to start plowing roads so that we could start chores.  There were a few days that even with the tractor we had a hard time getting aroud b/c you couldnt see anything and we did drive in the ditch a few times. It was hard on all of us and you could tell that everyone was getting tired and wore out.  We did manage to release our frustration one day when the one hired hand got the old feed truck stuck going to feed the bulls b/c the road blew in the day before, so I went and got the tractor and pulled him out and then the boss showed up and and he figured he could make it and well he got half way down the road and come to a sudden halt and had to crawl out the window but we pulled him out again and to my amazment he said I think I can make it next time and he took a big run at it and hit the snow bank and the hood popped open but he just kept going and to my amazment he made it.  That was probably the first time we all had a good laugh that winter and I think it wa just what we needed. 
 

shortyisqueen

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Oct 4, 2007
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Alberta, Canada
Yes, it is -56 F today here with the windchill. Thank goodness we are nearly done calving and the girls have chosen this week to take a break from giving us any new ones!! BRRRRRR....
 

shorthorns r us

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garybob said:
1978, hands-down. 2 feet of snow (and ice on top) that stayed for about 7 weeks. Odd for NW AR.

GB

Ice came on Christmas and didn't melt until Valentines day.
 

Shebet21

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West Central Wisconsin ( Mondovi )
This year is right up on top for me again. 47 and sunny yesterday, blizzard warning today with temps nosediving.  Can't see 50 yards in front of you right now.  Supposed to be -35 with windchill tonight.
 

doubled

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Iowa
Jill said:
I think 78 was the worst one here also, after the plow came through the banks of snow were up over the top of the truck.

Wow, what a story, thanks for sharing, that was interesting
 

showgirl2010

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Jan 6, 2008
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Illinios
I have heard my dad talk about the winters of 77 and 78.  One of them years they purchased 30 or 40 head of cattle from the sale barn the night before the blizzard hit.  I remeber my dad saying that they couldn't get the trailers up the hill to the farm so they emptied the load at the bottom and ran them up and into the the lot. 

As for my experience, the most snow I have seen is about a foot which was only 3 years ago.  But now this winter has been insane.  Today 1/29/08 will be a day I will never forget.  I walked out in a t-shirt and light overalls this morning and just added a sweater after school.  Then a huge storm blew threw.  I was in it with my dad just down the road from my house and the rain was not pouring down it was blowing side ways.  It landed strong healthy trees and even knocked a house off the foundation. The people were fortunate and were not there at the time, but their house, barn and camper is gone.  So far it has not been classified as a tornado, but it was massive winds.  Right now the winds are blowing at about 60-65mph.  We were fortunate that only a few limbs fell down on our place and our stock is fine as far as we know.  Half of our cattle are next to where the house was blown away.  I thought it funny that threre were no trees down on our place, because we have a bunch of dead trees in our woods that we have been meaning to cut down and not one is on the ground.  So I praise the Lord for being merciful to my family and keeping everyone safe.

Jamie
 
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