John Wheeler: 33 years ago, three brutal storms at the same time – InForum

FARGO — One of the most amazing episodes of winter storms occurred 33 years ago this week. On October 28 and 29, an early-season snowstorm dropped 15.9 inches of snow on Bismarck. The Fargo metropolitan area received no snow at all from this storm as it moved almost due north. Two days later, the infamous Halloween blizzard hit southern and eastern Minnesota, dropping 28.4 inches in Minneapolis and 36.9 inches on Duluth. This storm also largely missed the Fargo area, although 1.7 inches of snow fell on November 2 and blizzard-force winds created whiteout conditions during the day.

Between these two storms, the even more infamous “Perfect Storm” swamped the Andrea Gail with 100-foot waves in the Atlantic Ocean, a situation made famous by the film starring George Clooney as an unfortunate fisherman. The three storms moved from south to north and were completely separate except for the extremely active weather pattern that was prevalent across North America at the time.

John Wheeler is chief meteorologist for WDAY, a position he has held since May 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South, in Louisiana and Alabama, and credits his family's move to the Midwest as important in developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and earned a BS degree in meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked at WOI-TV in central Iowa for about a year before moving to Fargo and WDAY.