The "1991 Halloween Blizzard"

It's Halloween and our weather today is going to be more of a trick rather than a treat.  After a record-setting (for October 30th) 1.6" of rain Wednesday in the Quad Cities, another soaking is on tap today.  New rainfall amounts in the Quad Cities will be around one-half inch, but south and east of the metro area, another inch or so is possible.

It could be worse.  Twenty-two years ago, the Midwest was experiencing the "1991 Halloween Blizzard"!

The Des Moines National Weather Service office reports that "Snow moved into southern Iowa on the afternoon of the 30th and changed to mixed precipitation and ice on the morning of the 31st and continuing into late afternoon on November 1st. Total ice accumulations ranged from 1 to 2 inches from southwestern into north central Iowa and 2 to 3 inches across southern and southeastern Minnesota. In northwestern Iowa the precipitation fell as all snow, with total accumulations of 8 inches or more across the area ranging up to 15.0 inches at Estherville and strong winds producing blizzard conditions into November 2nd."

And, this is what it looked like in Duluth, Minnesota, on November 4, 1991, after the storm.  The city saw 4.2" of snow on Halloween 1991 (which was a record for the date).  But, the following day, a record 24.1" of snow accumulated!  By the time the storm was over, 36.9" of snow fell, which was the most single storm snow total there.

While not ideal today, I'm sure this makes the rain a little more bearable this Halloween in the Quad Cities.

CBS4 Meteorologist Anthony Peoples