Think & Drink Series: Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940

November 11th and 12th, 1940, were normal, mild fall days in the middle of an equally mild, warm season. With temperatures in the 50s, people took advantage of the nice weather hunting and just enjoying the weather. However, conditions changed rapidly as a severe blizzard gripped the Midwest, dropping more than a foot of snow in places and leaving unprecedented destruction in its wake.

Join speaker Edward Hopkins as he uses the 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard that created havoc across Wisconsin as a classic example of quite a few early winter storms that pass across the Upper Midwest and western Great Lakes during the 2nd week of November.  While he will describe some major features of that storm, Dr. Hopkins will also talk about some other memorable storms called the “Gales of November.”

Edward Hopkins, PHD, is the Assistant State Climatologist for Wisconsin. He has deep ties to weather and climate education and research in Wisconsin, having taught meteorology courses at the University of Wisconsin—Madison and contributing to the State Climatology Office for over 20 years. He co-authored Wisconsin’s Weather and Climate with Professor Joseph M. Moran of the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay.