Summary
A severe late-January 1971 blizzard disrupted Beaver Island’s transportation and mail. Drifting snow plugged the roads and airport; the Beaver Beacon says it was nearly a week before supplies and mail could be flown in. The issue also describes an incomplete January 28 trip, supplies stockpiled at Charlevoix Airport, and two visiting families stranded on the island’s mainland side.
On January 24, Father Donahue reached the McCafferty home by snowmobile to hold Mass for families confined by the storm. The newspaper says regular trips had been absent for nearly two weeks from January 22 at the time of writing, but it does not provide a final reopening date.
Evidence and limits
The source supplies a dated beginning and operational effects, not a formal meteorological storm record. No aircraft, ferry, pilot, crew, casualty, or precise snowfall measurement is inferred.
Open questions
- What weather-service record identifies the storm and its snowfall or wind?
- Which aircraft and surface carrier restored mail and supplies?
- When did regular passenger and freight service resume?
See also
Sources
- Beaver Beacon, January 1971, “Snow Flys.”Reports a severe late-January blizzard, roads and airport plugged by drifting snow, nearly a week before supplies and mail could be flown in, a January 24 home Mass reached by snowmobile, an incomplete January 28 trip, and nearly two weeks without regular trips beginning January 22; the issue does not identify the storm formally or give a final reopening date.