Armistice Day blizzard threatened death

Eighty-six years ago this waterfowl season, a surprise winter blizzard threatened the Tri-States and killed more than 150 people in at least five Midwestern states, including Illinois. Many of the victims were waterfowl hunters caught insufficiently dressed and otherwise unprepared on rivers and estuaries as a severe cold front descended on the Midwest suddenly and intensely. For many local men, what had begun as an opportunity to enjoy a day of hunting on the river with friends became a struggle to survive. On Nov. 11, 1940, Armistice Day (Veterans Day), residents of the Tri-States were enjoying unseasonably warm, sunny weather. Hunters call it “bluebird” weather, better suited for yard work or fishing than duck hunting. However, it was also a holiday weekend and in the middle of what was traditionally the best part of the duck hunting season. Hunters loaded up their wooden skiffs and headed out onto the rivers. At first, the hunting was the best of their lives.

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