“Worst Snowstorm in Saskatchewan History: At the end of 1946 and the beginning of 1947, southern Saskatchewan was hit with a winter that has gone down in history! There was a series of snowstorms that paralyzed the province and took the lives of a dozen people.

It began on Boxing Day, Dec. 26, 1946, with what would’ve been considered a pretty bad storm. However, no one knew what was to come. Until Jan. 13, 1947, the average temperature was 45 degrees below zero. On Jan. 13, more periodic storms began and lasted for the next 13 days. Branch lines were plugged up faster than the railways could open them. Still the worst wasn’t over.

On Jan. 26, 1947, a blizzard hit and raged almost continuously until Feb. 9. The farms, villages, towns and cities of southern Saskatchewan became isolated islands from one another. Communities ran out of fuel and groceries, and all public buildings were closed.