Think this week was bad? In 1904, Neillsville got 26 inches of snow in 24 hours

NEILLSVILLE - It's not hard to imagine getting sick of winter this year.

A storm that drops more than 15 inches of snow can have that kind of effect. There's been plenty of shoveling and snowblowing to go around, and travel has been harrowing in the recent snowstorms we've been getting.

But to perhaps improve your mood, bear this in mind — it could be worse. And it indeed has been here in Wisconsin. 

The snowstorm that pounded the region Tuesday and Wednesday pales in comparison to the snowstorm that hit the state Dec. 27 and 28, 1904. On the first day of that storm, the heaviest 24-hour snowfall for non-lake effect snow in Wisconsin history was recorded when 26 inches of snow fell on the town of Neillsville in Clark County, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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Obviously, in 1904, they didn't have the snow removal technology that we have today, so if 15 inches of snow seems daunting now, what was 26 inches of snow like roughly 115 years ago?

According to a newspaper article in the Marshfield News about the storm, trains throughout the entire state were abandoned and drifts of snow were five to six feet deep. The entire railroad service and travel was "paralyzed" and telephone lines were down, according to the article. Historic photos from the storm show people shoveling out Main Street in the town of Neillsville.

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The storm began Dec. 27, and "driven by the high wind the snow was piled up in immense heaps, completely shutting off travel of any form," according to the article. The Merrillian Junction Train was stuck in a snowbank in Granton. Reports received from Eau Claire, Superior and Ashland by telegraph said that had never been a storm like this before and that it would be more than a week before "travel would return to its normal condition."

To keep railroad tracks clear, they used a “cow-catcher” blade on the front of the train engine to plow snow away. If snow was too heavy or too high, passengers would get out with shovels and clear the tracks for the trains to run through, said Clark County historian Natalie Erpenbach. 

This isn't to say this week's snowstorm was easy to bear, though. According to the National Weather Service in Green Bay, 15.7 inches of snow fell in Wausau, which was the heaviest storm for any February storm. More than 7 inches was recorded in Wausau on Tuesday before noon, according to the weather service. 

So while this look back at Wisconsin's snowy history might not help your muscles still sore from shoveling feel any better, just know there have been worse storms people have had to dig themselves out of here in Wisconsin.