The extremely harsh winter of 1886–87 begins on the Great Plains

Background. The summer of 1886 had been unusually hot and dry, with numerous prairie fires, and water sources often dried up. This severe drought preceded the extremely harsh winter of 1886–87, which affected much of continental North America, especially the United States. The winter weather even reached the West Coast, setting an all-time snowfall record in downtown San Francisco on February 5, 1887.

Cattle Industry Impact. The winter is most known for its effects on the Western United States and its cattle industry. Hundreds of thousands of cattle died in the Big Die-Up during the unusually cold and snowy winters of 1885–1886 and 1886–1887. This winter marked the end of the open range era and led to the entire reorganization of ranching.

Geographic Context. The Great Plains is a broad expanse of flatland in North America, lying across both the Central United States and Western Canada. The term "Great Plains" was not generally used before the early 20th century, when Nevin Fenneman's 1916 study brought it into more widespread usage. Before that, the region was almost invariably called the High Plains.