Hanna Basin Museum
  • Museum
    • Membership and Support
    • Items Available for Purchase at the Museum
    • Order Form for Materials Available for Purchase at the Museum
  • Early Settlers
    • Remembering Early Hanna Basin Settlers
    • Map of Hanna - 1939
  • Carbon
    • Hanna Basin Museum - Time Line
    • Carbon Cemetery Records
    • Carbon Mine Fatality Records
    • Visitors to the Carbon Cemetery
    • Carbon - Wings of Imagination - A Letter From Old Carbon
    • Carbon - A Poem by Mrs. C. E. Ellis
    • 2003: Carbon Cemetery Restoration
    • 2011: Carbon, Carbon County, Cemetery Restoration 2011
    • 2011: Bow River FFA Community Service Project: Carbon Cemetery
    • 2014: The Carbon Cemetery
    • 2015: The Old Carbon Cemetery Privy
  • Hanna
    • A Chronological History​ of Wyoming's Hanna Basin
    • THE HANNA CEMETERY: From the Bottom of the Mine
    • Hanna Cemetery Records
    • Hanna Burial Plots and Lots >
      • Hanna Blocks and Lots 1 - 6
      • Hanna Plots 1 - 50
      • Hanna Plots 51 - 80
      • Hanna Plots 81 - 129
      • Hanna Plots 130 - 175
      • Hanna Plots 176 - 209
      • Hanna Plots 210 - 298
      • Hanna Plots 299 - 349
      • Hanna Plots 350 - 379
      • Hanna Plots 380 - 419
      • Hanna Plots 420 - 500
    • Hanna Early Churches >
      • Introduction to Hanna’s Early Churches
      • Episcopal Church - History, Bell and Cross
      • Methodist Church - Organ
    • Hanna Military in the Hanna Cemetery >
      • Hanna Cemetery - In The Military
      • Arthurs, Peter Killed in Action World War I
      • Love, Michael V. Killed In The Line Of Duty
      • Jones, William D. Died of Wounds Received In Action World War I
      • Lucas, Bernard R. Killed In Action World War II
      • Lucas, William C. Died of Wounds Recieved In Action World War II
      • Luoma, Arvo A. Killed in Action World War II
      • McAtee, William J. Killed in Action Vietnam
      • Saari, John Killed in Action World War II
    • Hanna Cemetery - Japanese Monuments Transcribed
    • Grave Monuments for Hanna Miner Fatalities Buried Elsewhere
    • Hanna Where Did They Come From?
  • Coal Miners
    • A History of the Hanna Coal Miner from 1868 to 2017: Bob Leathers' Notebook
    • Hanna June 30, 1903 Mine Explosion >
      • Hanna 1903 Explosion Explained
      • List of Miners Killed in the June 30, 1903 Explosion
      • 1903 Explosion Coroner's Inquest
      • 1904 State Mine Inspector's Report for 1903 Explosion
      • 1903 Explosion - Earle Holmes Letter to Wilson Gobble
    • Hanna March 28, 1908 Mine Explosions >
      • Hanna 1908 Mine Explosions Explained
      • List of Miners Killed in the March 28, 1908 Explosions
      • Noah Young's 1908 Hanna Explosion Report to Governor B.B. Brooks
      • 1908 Explosion Coroner's Inquest Report
      • 1908 State Coal Mine Inspectors Report - 1908 Hanna Mine Number 1 Explosion
      • David M. Elias - State Mine Inspector Killed in 1908 Explosion
      • 1908 Explosion - Gov. B.B. Brooks Communiations
      • April 3, 1908 Chums From Boyhood Died Side By Side
      • April 16, 1908 U.P. May Not Be Liable
    • Hanna Basin Mines and Maps
    • 1917 Labor Agreement Between the United Mine Workers of America and the Southern Wyoming Coal Operators
    • 1916 Labor Agreement Between the United Mine Workers of America and the Southern Wyoming Coal Operators
    • Becker Strip Mine Blasting Videos
  • Gallery
    • Hanna Trains
    • Film, Albert and Margaret (Briggs) Film - The McNulty Collection
    • Hanna Drawings by Harv Wilbur From His Book Hanna Field
    • Hanna Depot and Operators
    • Hanna - Elmo Fire Truck
    • Hanna Basin Today
  • Exhibits
    • Cummings / Crawford Cottage
    • 1868 - 1892: Town of Carbon Aka: Old Carbon and Carbon City
    • 1890 - 1954: Hanna School Alumni, Staff and Activities From the Early Years
    • 1900 - 1982: The Finn Hall
    • 1900 - 1954: Hanna Decoration Day, Labor Day, Recreation, Sports and Music Remembered
    • The Hanna Amusement Center - Love's
    • 1895: The Linden Hall turned Community Hall then Hanna Basin Museum
    • 1889 June 2: The Wild Bunch
    • 1905 - 1920: Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 3 Mine in Hanna
    • 1908: The Sampo Coal Company and The Town of Sampo
    • 1909: Medicine Bow, Wyoming, Became Incorporated and Hanna'a Neighbor
    • 1911 - 1925: Union Pacific Coal Companies No. 3.5 Mine
    • 1911 - ​1941: The Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 4 mine in Hanna
    • 1912 - 1925: The Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 3.5 Mine ​in Hanna
    • 1914 April 20: The Ludlow Massacre Affected Hanna
    • 1916 April 21: William "Wild Bill" Carlisle Robbed a Train Near Hanna
    • 1917: Elmo Became Incorporated
    • 1920 July 4: The Soldiers' Monument ​ at the Hanna school was dedicated to the World War I Veterans
    • 1936 - 1958: The Nugget Coal Company Operated in Hanna and Elmo, Wyoming
    • 1937-1969: Monolith Portland Midwest Coal Company Mined Coal in Elmo
    • 1942-1954: The Union Pacific Coal Company's Hanna No. 4A Mine
    • 1949: The Great Blizzard
    • 1949: The 1949 Hanna High School Annual, The Miner, Published Some Interesting Hanna Historical Dates
    • 1954 March: The Federal Commodity Program Helped Feed the Miners and Their Families ​ After the Union Pacific Coal Company Coal Mines in Hanna Close
    • 1970-1983: Energy Development and Resource Exploration Mined Coal In Hanna
    • 1979 April 12 - The First Issue of the Hanna Herald was printed
    • 1984 May 27: Hanna Miner's Monument Dedicated
    • 1984: Hanna Recreation Center Was Built
    • 1993 May: Memories of Hanna by Betty (Daniels) Poulos
    • 2001: Carbon and Hanna More Than Coal
    • 2003: Carbon Cemetery Clean Up and Restoration
    • 2011: Lamp Post from Love's Amusement Hall on Display at the Museum
    • 2012 August 5: Nils Simelius' Grave in Carbon Was Visited by His Family From Finland
    • June 20, 2015: A New Addition to the Hanna Basin Museum Was Started
    • 2015: Hanna Basin Museum Honors Amelia Leino and Lillian Turner
    • 2015 Friday December 18: The Last Underground Coal Mine in the United Kingdom Closed
    • 2017 April 18: The Union Pacific Steam Engine 844 Visited Hanna
    • 2017 July 13: The Last Dragline in Hanna Was Demolished
    • 2017 August 21: A Total Solar Eclipse in Hanna
    • 2018 May 27: Memorial Day in Hanna Was Held at the VFW Park
    • 2018 July 19: The West and East Entrances to the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 Mine in Hanna were Located. The No. 1 Mine Closed in 1908 after killing 249 Men Over Its Brief History.
    • November 20, 2018: New Lincoln Highway Exhibit Coming to the Hanna Basin Museum
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Us

1949: The Great Blizzard

Page by Bob Leathers with contributions from Mike Moffitt
The state of Wyoming suffered significantly during the great blizzard of 1949.  It was without a doubt the most memorable storm to occur in the town of Hanna. It wasn't so much the amount of snow that fell.  It was the wind that blew constantly up to 80 miles per hour with no let up resulting in huge drifts of snow. The temperatures remained below zero most of the time. Some drifts were reported up to 40 feet deep, stretching for hundreds of feet. Some buildings were reported entirely covered with snow. At a minimum, drifts reached the roofs of houses and residents had to tunnel out of their houses. Train traffic was entirely stopped. The railroad tracks and earth cuts were filled with snow, making train movement impossible. Roads were closed.  Large equipment, including bulldozers, was required to move the huge amount of snow to allow traffic flow.
The most significant blizzard in Wyoming history in terms of total human impact occurred from January 2, 1949 to February 20, 1949. Snowfall in parts of eastern and southeastern Wyoming measured up to 30 inches, with drifts 20 to 30 feet high.  Within 24 hours of the storm all bus, rail and air traffic was halted. There were thousands of stranded motorists and rail passengers.  Thirty-three hundred miles of state highway lay in the storm area.  Seventeen people perished, along with 55,000 head of cattle and more than 105,000 sheep. That was an estimated loss of 15 percent of the state's cattle.  Seventeen people lost their lives during the storm, the greatest loss of life documented for a winter storm. Total economic loss is estimated at more than $9 million. (History of Wyoming.gov. Chapter 19 Winter Storm and Blizzard)


Hanna, Tipperary, 1949
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BLIZZARD OF 49, HANNA, TIPPERARY (PICTURE FROM MIKE MOFFITT, JUNE 2014)

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BLIZZARD OF 49, HANNA, TIPPERARY (PICTURE FROM MIKE MOFFITT, JUNE 2014)

Picture
1949 BLIZZARD, HANNA, TIPPERARY (JAMES CLEGG COLLECTION, HANNA BASIN MUSEUM)

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1949 BLIZZARD, HANNA, TIPPERARY (JAMES CLEGG COLLECTION, HANNA BASIN MUSEUM)

1949 Blizzard
Union Pacific Railroad at Hadsell, Wyoming. Hadsell is located west of Rawlins.
Images from James Clegg Collection, Hanna Basin Museum
Click on the button to play the video.

1949 Blizzard
Rawlins, Wyoming
Images from James Clegg Collection, Hanna Basin Museum
Click on the button to play the video.

Links

For additional information on the 1949 Blizzard click on the links below.
Wyoming, 1949 Winter Storm and Blizzard
Nebraska - 1949 Blizzard

Sources

  • History of Wyoming.gov. Chapter 19 Winter Storm and Blizzard
  • James Clegg Photo Collection, Hanna Basin Museum, February 1, 2015.
  • Mike Moffitt, Tipperary Photos, Gillette, WY, June 2014.
  • Page by Bob Leathers February 1, 2015

Hanna Basin Museum – A Connection To The Past