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Ahead Of The Big Storm By Les Kouba

Ahead of the Big Storm by Les Kouba

This painting was inspired by the day before the famous Armistice Day Blizzard of November 11, 1940. I decided to paint what the weather conditions were like the day before the storm hit.

This scene takes place west of Eagle Lake near Lakeside, Minnesota, which is located between Hutchinson and Stewart where we hunted November 10.

On the day of the storm, I went hunting with my two brothers-in-law, Alton and Lloyd Thiem, Orial’s brothers. We were on our way to a slough near Greenleaf MN when the storm hit. I was driving my 1937 Olds coupe. I’ll never forget it.

The design of this car was quite revolutionary at that time. The radiator had sort of a curved upwardly scoop to its chrome plated aluminum grill. It was very good looking, but highly impractical. As the wind increased its fury, the snow followed the design of the grill and covered the engine so tightly that when the car stalled, I lifted up the hood and its exact lines were embossed above the engine. It was completely encased in snow.

Once we saw that, we knew there was no use in trying to get it started. We decided to try to walk to the last farm that we passed. We tried but we couldn’t make it. The intensity of the storm made it impossible to breathe.

As we sat in the car pondering our situation, we spotted a set of headlights in the distance. It was the Holsum bread truck on its way to Hutchinson. He spotted us and stopped. He saved our lives.

This scene takes place on Nov 10th 1940 the day before the Armistice Day Blizzard. It is west of Eagle Lake near Lakeside Minnesota which is between Hutchinson and Stewart where Les Kouba hunted on November 10th. A limited edition print may be available call today.

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