The plot of this episode, a sudden and unexpected snowstorm turning into a blizzard, trapping schoolchildren outside and people getting lost because of no visibility, parallels the real life events of the blizzard of January 12, 1888 in the great plains states area of Nebraska and the Dakotas. This blizzard, known as the Schoolhouse Blizzard, came up suddenly on a warm day, children left school without coats, and got lost during the furious blizzard. The death toll from this blizzard was estimated to be 235 dead and hundreds of others suffering frostbite and other injuries and sickness.