MINNEAPOLIS — When it comes to Halloween in Minnesota, expect the sounds of ghosts and goblins. But you can also expect the familiar sound of lifelong Minnesotans (Gen X or older) collectively reminding the never-unremembered rest of Minnesota of that one time it snowed a lot on Halloween.

While WCCO meteorologist Joseph Dames says This year’s Halloween forecast calls for some snowflakesit will be nothing compared to the white wave that descended on the area 33 years ago.

The Halloween Blizzard of 1991 is a story that is brought up year after year as a badge of honor for those who lived through it. Gusty winds and plunging temperatures on Halloween night made going from house to house for trick-or-treaters or just about anywhere a challenge.

But Halloween night was just the beginning.

On the eerie night itself, Minneapolis-St. Paul got just over eight inches of snow. And the next day? Another 18.5 inches. The next day another centimeter fell. And on November 3, a few tenths of an inch, bringing a whopping 28.4 centimeters of snow, the largest storm on record.

But about ten years earlier there was an even bigger event. In January 1982, two back-to-back snowstorms hit the Twin Cities just days apart. Those two waves resulted in 37.4 inches, which is significantly more than even the famous 1991 Halloween snowstorm.

Former WCCO team member reminisces

Former WCCO meteorologist Paul Huttner remembers the 24-hour updates on a stormy morning of November 1.

“It came quickly and was a shock,” Huttner remembers. “We’re saying more than 50 centimeters of snow is going to fall! That’s not really going to happen, is it?”

When the Twin Cities woke up, the snow was picking up, at times two inches per hour. The wet, heavy snow caused roofs to collapse and firefighters to be stranded. Police traded their squads for snowmobiles to navigate the roads, while others used skis to get down the street.

“As a meteorologist, you always want to work on the big storm,” Huttner said. “When I saw it there that morning, I knew it was huge. I had no idea that this would be the largest snowstorm in Twin Cities history, sitting here 30 years later.”

That snowstorm left mountains of snow on the ground. About a week later it melted away, but over Thanksgiving we gained another 18 inches. And that snow stuck around until early March.

contributed to this report.