Some Minnesota kids went trick-or-treating through falling snow on October 31, 1991, with parents pulling them on sleds. By midnight, 8.2 inches had accumulated at the Twin Cities airport. The storm still had days to go.
Snow had started around midday, after forecasts called for just a few inches. Families made different calls that Halloween: some headed out, some cut their rounds short, and others stayed home as conditions deteriorated.
The Twin Cities eventually recorded 28.4 inches, its largest single-storm snowfall total. That total accumulated across the storm, with the heaviest snowfall arriving on November 1.
At times, snow fell at one to two inches an hour. Strong winds and near-zero visibility followed as the storm intensified toward Lake Superior.
Duluth endured roughly 72 hours of continuous snowfall and finished with 36.9 inches. Southern Minnesota and Iowa faced a different danger: one to three inches of ice that brought down power lines and left tens of thousands of homes without electricity.
Across the Twin Cities area, more than 1,700 schools and businesses closed. Highway closures stranded motorists, and the National Guard helped provide generators and shelter.
About 20 to 22 deaths in Minnesota were attributed to the storm, mostly from traffic crashes or heart attacks while shoveling heavy, wet snow.
