Not much worry about Mississippi flooding 50 years ago

In March of 1968, weather experts said no flooding was likely along the Upper Mississippi that spring.  Just a year earlier, the river had reached almost three feet above flood stage in La Crosse…which at that time, was the 4th highest ever in the city.  But in early ’68, La Crosse was finishing its driest winter ever.  It’s still the only winter on record in the city when there was under 10 inches of snow for the entire season.  La Crosse had less than 1 inch of snow total from February 1st through the end of March.
 
Wisconsin’s young attorney general, Bronson La Follette, decided he didn’t want a third term as the top lawyer in the state.  La Follette sought and won the Democratic nomination for governor in ’68…but lost to Republican Warren Knowles, who did get a third term at his job.
 
La Crosse’s Montgomery Ward store was celebrating its 2nd birthday on the old courthouse square downtown.  It held a birthday party on St. Patrick’s Day, featuring a 100-pound birthday cake filled with cash.  The site of the old Ward store is now Belle Square.
 
And the Beatles had their first new single of 1968, “Lady Madonna”…yesterday in La Crosse.