I Remember Winter of '96 (Great Falls, Bozeman: renting, how much, schools)

[tea.and.cookies]

I was only 26 with a one year old child , we were living in Utah and drove up to Great Falls so Grandpa could see his new grandbaby. Yikes!! We were snowed in for several days , had to climb out the window so you could shovel the high snowdrift in front of the door. The only way to get around was with snowmobiles . I felt so bad because I only brought a little bit of food. Lucky for me my in laws have been in Montana since the 60's. We ate cougar and elk and had lots of wood. I'm originally from NJ , we get bad ice storms in between the snow storms . BUT nothing can prepare you for a Montana winter especially the storm of '96. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. PS. What was I thinking driving to Montana In December ???

[Debee]

LOL me too. Our daughter had a friend visiting from Washington in a small white car. She went out to start her car one morning and couldnt find it. It was totally buried.We still tease her to this day about winter in Montana LOL. Took along time to dig out from under that winter.But it sure was beautiful.

[NYMTman]

Yup! Snowiest winter on record for Bozeman, with nearly 200" of snow at the valley floor (600"+ in the mountains). Nearly every town in the state recieved 100" that winter. Cold enough for the snow to stick around into June, as well.

[NYMTman]

Best part was that peak snowdepth occured on Christmas day

[A Neighbor]

That was the year our ranch burned up on Oct 13 and we got snow the next day that didn't leave until the first weekend in June. We also lost around 7 cows from a bank repo herd due to malnutrition. Luckily we got them healthy before we lost anymore. The previous owner had left his bull in with them for over 6 months and hadn't bothered to feed them anything except what they could forage in an overgrazed pasture. Thank God we still had our team of horses to pull a hay sled with because half the time we couldn't make it into the field with the trucks, skidsteer or tractor. I'd love to have that one revisit us for the moisture, but I don't know if I want to be so trapped by all the snow.

[grannymontanny]

There was so much snow that year,i remember some people were having a hard time trying to figure out where to put, it after plowing. our driveway was so high on each side with snow, it was like driving down a tunnel.But it was Beautiful!

[jimj]

Maybe this year????? Hope,hope,hope.......

[bluebird39]

I love hearing these stories. We're in Northern Michigan where it snows a lot due to lake affect snow. After living in Louisiana and Western Oregon, I wouldn't want to live anywhere that DIDN'T get lots of snow now. I love it. People here HATE it. They have flat land to drive on too.

Do you get snow all at once, or does it come a little at a time? Here it snows a bit almost every day, it seems, through the winter. There really isn't much sun, which I kind of miss, but the snow stays on the ground for months, and it reflects a lot of light.

Kids had 6-7 snow days last year. How many do kids there typically get? It has to be pretty extreme for them to get school called off. The cut off for outdoor recess during the winter is 10 degrees (wind chill included).

People think I'm crazy, but I really welcome the "forced hybernation" that comes with tons of snow and cold weather. I got my pantry well stocked, and our wood pile is huge. I think we're in good shape...

[grannymontanny]

That year it started snowing at the end of October,not much,but a start(i remember because i had to take my dog in to get spayed that day) and never really quit after that. and like the other poster said,christmas day it really came down. lots of roof shoveling that year. i know some people in the Swan,were hauling snow off in trucks just to make more room on their drives.i miss the snow we havent really had a good one in the last few yrs.theres nothing prettier than looking out your front window and seeing wildlife standing in the pure white snow,while the sun makes it sparkle
hopefully we can get some this year !
edit: found these pix from that year. we were renting before building.is nov. 96

[NYMTman]

Montana schools do not give off for snow days. I've never, ever seen it anywhere in the state. We do let kids go into school late if the wind-chill in the morning is -40 or below, however.

How much snow you get is really contingent on where in the state you live. Far eastern Montana, you'll see maybe 25 inches per year (a lot less than what you're used to). But in one of the snowier towns like Bozeman or Whitefish, you'll see nearly 100 inches per year. Almost all of that comes from small snow events, like Northern Michigan. Although in early October we did have a large eight inch snowstorm in town.