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Looking back at Marshalltown severe weather

T-R PHOTO BY EMILY BARSKE While the Marshalltown area endured -50 degree windchills this week, the snow across the countryside shows the beauty of winter.

The polar vortex that hit Marshalltown and the rest of the Midwest in the past week has so far resulted in the deaths of 21 people. U.S. Postal Service mail delivery was suspended at times and many schools and businesses closed their doors.

Jan. 30, the coldest day of the polar vortex, saw a high of -15 degrees and a low of -27 degrees with a wind chill that made it feel more like -50 degrees.

Marshalltown has endured its share of inclement weather in the past decades.

“Marshalltown reached its coldest temperature of -32 degrees on Feb. 5, 1936,” Library Director Sarah Rosenblum said. “This cold snap resulted in 133 consecutive hours of below zero temperatures. Trains with coal were unable to make it into Marshalltown, and the Coliseum was opened up as a shelter for those with no coal or heat.”

Snow that came in early March brought blizzard conditions to Marshalltown in 1959. Enough snow accumulated that children made tunnels and igloos.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO The winter of 1936 brought snow and temperatures of -32 degrees. Pictured are residents of Jefferson Township traveling down a path surrounded by snow.

The Thanksgiving holiday of 1983 saw the U.S., spanning Colorado to Wisconsin, endure a blizzard that dropped one to two feet of snow in its wake. Sidney, N.E. received the highest amount of precipitation when 27 inches of snow piled onto the town, according to information obtained from the National Weather Service. A multi-car pileup on Interstate 80 resulted in several deaths. Many Marshalltownians remember that fateful three-days blizzard.

With winds reaching 60 mph and snow drifts six feet high, travel proved treacherous.

Joan Bernard Jones recalled making the 120-mile trek from Manchester to State Center with her sister Linda, referring to the road conditions as a “mess.”

Susan Howell Groth remembered the winter of 1983 prevented her from traveling back to Marshalltown to spend time with loved ones after deaths in the family.

“We left Waseca (Minn.) for Marshalltown the day before Thanksgiving,” Kathy White Miller said. “I was scared to death. I could not see a thing for all the slushy snow. The wipers could not keep up in our little ’82 Honda Civic. We had our 18-month-old son and our German Shorthair. We made the decision to get a hotel in Clear Lake, Iowa. The next day the weather was fine.”

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at

641-753-6611 or

sjordan@timesrepublican.com

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