About: 1888 Northwest United States cold wave

In mid-January 1888, a severe cold wave passed through the northern regions of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains of the United States, then considered to be the northwestern region of the nation. It led to a blizzard for the northern Plains and upper Mississippi valley where many children were trapped in schoolhouses where they froze to death. This tragedy became known as the Schoolhouse Blizzard, Schoolchildren's Blizzard, or The Children's Blizzard. This cold snap and blizzard were part of a month when temperatures averaged below normal by 6 to 12 °F (3.3 to 6.7 °C) across much of the northern and western United States.