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The Big Freeze of 1921
A spring ice storm froze Kewanee in its tracks
Dean Karau
It had been a typical spring day, with a low of 48˚ and a high of 58.˚ The weather prediction for the next day was for cooler temperatures and a probability of April showers. That Friday night, Kewaneeans snuggled into bed thinking that May flowers were not too far around the corner.
Boy, was our hometown in for a shock!
Kewanee awoke on Saturday morning, April 16, 1921, to what the paper called “a glacier,” the worst storm in “many years.” Kewanee had turned to ice.
The storm began around 10:00 p.m. Friday evening. It started with a cold, hard rain. Soon, Kewaneeans were awakened by clasps of thunder, followed by bolts of lightning. After that, the temperatures began dropping.