1936 North American cold wave

[8] Despite a mild March over most areas east of the Rocky Mountains, the six months from October 1935 to March 1936 were the fifth-coldest on record over the contiguous U.S.[9] The 1935/36 cold wave began in the plains states in November, when temperatures were well below normal in many areas west of the Mississippi River.

In Ohio and the Centralia district of Illinois,[24] the cold destroyed the peach crop, whilst defective heaters caused numerous dangerous fires in Minnesota.

[26][27] At Devil's Lake, North Dakota, the average temperature for five weeks ending in February was −21 °F (−29.4 °C).

[28] Skis had to be used in rescue operations as a succession of snowstorms hit the Pacific Northwest states and much of the nation east of the Continental Divide.

[29] By the middle of the month, all schools in the Midwest, Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest were closed by deep snowdrifts.

Many remote South Dakota towns did not have outside contact for several weeks,[30] At the peak of the cold wave, only two days of supplies were in inventory at many stores in the plains states.

[24] Subsequent thaws accompanied by heavy rain over the southern states led to flooding.

The warming led, however, to avalanches in the Pacific Northwest, where three people were killed on Snoqualmie Pass on February 24.