From the CBC vault: Winnipeg's blizzard of '86

When Winnipeg was hit with 35.2centimetres of snowfall on Nov. 7 of 1986, Bill Norrie was still the city's mayor and those lucky homeowners with snowblowers were the envy of the neighbourhood.

The city issued advisories to Winnipeg drivers to stay off the streets andto instead opt for taking Winnipeg Transit.

Knowing Winnipeggers are suckers for a good bargain, Norrietried to entice drivers in the city to take the bus by eliminating transit fares for a day.

As a result of our real concern to get people to use the transit system, weveauthorizedfree transit for Monday.

Although it, too, was short-lived, the city even authorized the emergency use of snowmobileson city streets for a time.

Those with 4x4swere asked to volunteer their services tolocal policedepartmentsin an effort to help with the delivery of meals on wheels to elderly people and othersdependenton the service.

It was the largest snow fall to hit the city since 1935. Flights were grounded, city services interrupted, and it took almost a week to plow all of the citys streets.