The 1997 Western Plains winter storms comprised a system of extreme snowfall and wind from October 24–26, 1997. The storms resulted in 13 deaths (five in Colorado, two each in Nebraska and Illinois, and one each in Michigan, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas), and caused power outages and school closings lasting up to a week in affected areas. The event was billed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as being a "two-hundred year storm". The wind caused much damage, downing trees and power poles.