Winter of 1886-87 stands as coldest

The Bismarck Tribune reports:

Bismarck's snowiest winter occurred 11 years ago, but the city's coldest winter goes back farther - to the days when Dakota was a territory. Half of Bismarck's 10 coldest winters were prior to 1900, and none was colder than the winter of 1886-87. From December to February, the average temperature was 0.4 degrees below zero - Bismarck's only winter with a below-zero average temperature. The season devastated livestock and ranchers in the west. Cattle, overstocked by ranchers during the summer's drought, died by the tens of thousands as hard snow hid the sparse prairie grasses. Storms raged from November to February. Five minimum temperature records from January 1887 still stand in Bismarck, including 41 below on Jan. 1 and 44 below on Jan. 2...

That's one of the reason's I love southern NM.