blizzard

View more Science videos

In frontier territory, blizzard was "a knock-down blow," delivered at first by a fist or gun rather than by the weather. It must have been in use by the mid-1820s. We encounter it in an 1829 glossary in the Virginia Literary Museum: "Blizzard. 'A violent blow,' perhaps from [German] Blitz, lightning. Kentucky." Whatever its origin, the word was familiar to frontiersman Davy Crockett, who wrote in his 1835 Tour Down East that at dinner, asked by a parson for a toast, "Not knowing whether he intended to have some fun at my expense, I concluded to go ahead and give him and his likes a blizzard." In this case it was a blizzard of words.

Blizzard went to college too. A writer in 1881 recalled, "In 1836 I first heard the word 'blizzard' among the young men at Illinois College, Jacksonville. If one struck a ball a severe blow in playing town-ball it would be said 'That's a blizzard.'"

Meanwhile, back on the frontier, blizzard began to be the term for the severe blow struck by a snowstorm. An 1862 book called Forty Years on the Frontier recorded this entry: "Snowed in the forenoon. Very cold in afternoon. Raw east wind. Everybody went to grand ball given by John Grant at Grantsville and a severe blizzard blew up and raged all night. We danced all night; no outside storm could dampen the festivities."

During the particularly severe winter of 1880-81, this kind of blizzard struck the whole country, as a writer in the Nation of New York City commented in 1881: "The hard weather has called into use a word which promises to become a national Americanism, namely 'blizzard.' It designates a storm (of snow and wind) which men cannot resist away from shelter." In general usage ever since, the blizzard of snow has knocked out the former meaning of mere human violence.

A strong wind (specified by the US Weather Bureau as over 50 kph) which whips up particles of ice and dry, powdery snow, reducing visibility to less than 200 m. The snow in a blizzard is not always falling, but is also carried up from snow on the ground.

Blizzards are defined by the National Weather Service as winter storms with sustained or gusting winds of 35 mph that produce blowing or drifting snow that reduces visibility to one-quarter mile or less for over three hours. While this is the technical definition of the word, for most people any sustained snowstorm accompanied by fierce winds is considered a blizzard. Blizzards are often, but not always, accompanied by extremely cold temperatures. They are most common in the Great Plains, the Great Lakes states, and the northeastern states along the coast, and less common in the Pacific Northwest.

The earliest European settlers in the colonies were stunned by the ferocity of North American blizzards. In 1717 a blizzard hit the eastern seaboard and was known as the "Great Snow" for more than a century. During this storm three to four feet of snow fell and harsh winds whipped it into twenty-five-foot drifts.

By the nineteenth century settlement had stretched westward, and settlers there were exposed to the howling winds and heavy snows of the prairie and plains areas. Railroads were frequently stalled by heavy snows. Food and fuel shortages could develop over time if a blizzard persisted for days on end. Fires were also a hazard in blizzards as stoves were overworked and water lines froze, preventing effective fire suppression. Telegraph, electric, and phone lines could be toppled. And the new suspension bridges could collapse under the heavy load of snow and ice.

Major blizzards racked the nation during the nineteenth century. In October of 1846 a blizzard struck northern California. Over eight days, heavy snows resulted in forty-foot drifts over Truckee Pass. The Donner Party of eighty-seven was trapped on the mountain, and when spring finally came in April of that year only forty-seven made their way back down. Cannibalism was reported here and elsewhere during blizzards in isolated western regions. In 1873 a major blizzard struck the northern Great Plains, leaving at least seventy people dead and paralyzing the railroad system for much of the winter.

In January of 1888 a blizzard struck the Great Plains, with deep snow and rapidly falling temperatures. The thermometer dropped sixty degrees in eighteen hours. Many of the 200 dead were children trying to make their way home from school. Later that year came the "Blizzard of '88." This storm still warrants inclusion in many history books for its sheer size and ferocity. From the Chesapeake Bay to Nantucket nearly 200 ships were damaged or destroyed. Then, from 10 to 14 March, the eastern seaboard was pummeled. From two to four feet of snow fell over three days across much of the region. Freezing temperatures were accompanied by wind gusts of over 70 mph across New York City. The snow drifted more than twenty feet deep, covering vehicles and even the first floors of some New York City structures. People in the city were trapped in elevated cars, stores, trains, and offices. In Connecticut and Massachusetts, forty to fifty inches of snow fell and formed drifts up to fifty feet deep. Entire houses and trains were buried. At the end of the storm more than 400 people had died.

By the twentieth century new technologies helped people deal with the consequences of blizzards. Massive plows could be attached to locomotives or trucks. Telegraphs and phones could be used to report approaching blizzard conditions. And by later in the century, sophisticated weather tracking and warning systems were in place. In Washington, D.C., from 27 to 29 January 1922, a winter storm buffeted the city, leaving nearly two feet of snow. It became known as the "Knickerbocker Storm" because the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapsed, killing nearly 100 inside. In 1941, March started out warm in the upper Midwest, and duck hunters took to the lakes when the season opened. But on 15 March a sudden blizzard whipped up and more than seventy died in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. A famous blizzard struck Chicago in 1967 when a series of strong storms struck at the western edge of Lake Michigan. It began on 26 January, and by the next day two feet of snow covered the city. It took two weeks to clear the snow; during that time sixty people died and the city experienced heavy looting.

In the late twentieth century two major storm periods racked the nation. The "Superstorm of 1993" (some called it the "Blizzard of the Century") arrived in March of that year involving nearly two-thirds of the entire nation and setting snowfall records across the eastern seaboard. Blizzard conditions existed from Alabama to Massachusetts, where some termed the storm a "white hurricane." To the west lay a vast track of thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods. At least ninety-two died in the series of storms. In 1996 came another "Blizzard of the Century," blasting the snowfall records set in 1993. The storm came in three major parts, again affecting nearly two-thirds of the continental United States. It began in the southeast, striking from 6 to 8 January. As it moved north, it left more than four feet of snow in places like Virginia, a record snowfall. Nearly three feet of snow fell in Pennsylvania and two feet in parts of New York and New Jersey. Nine states were virtually paralyzed, and more than 100 people died. A week later, 11–13 January, another storm rocked the northeast. The following week, 17–18 January, a major blizzard struck the central and northern plains.

Yet another season of major winter storms and blizzards arrived the next November, beginning with massive ice storms. Blizzards struck some areas of the Great Plains and Great Lakes two times a week in a repeated pattern that left record snow amounts of two to three feet per blizzard. Winter temperatures reached minus eighty degrees with wind chills. Total snowfall in some Great Plains and Great Lakes areas exceeded 100 inches. The fall and winter storms left a season of disastrous flooding from the Red River of the north to parts of the Upper Mississippi.

Bibliography

Cable, Mary. The Blizzard of '88. New York: Atheneum, 1988.

—Polly Fry

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

• Storms - blizzard: severe snowstorm with large accumulations of snow

This article is about the winter storm condition. For other uses, see Blizzard (disambiguation).

Part of the Nature series on Weather
Calendar seasons
Spring · Summer Autumn · Winter
Tropical seasons Dry season · Wet season
Storms
Thunderstorm · Supercell Downburst · Lightning Tornado · Waterspout Tropical cyclone (Hurricane) Extratropical cyclone Winter storm · Blizzard · Ice storm Dust storm · Firestorm  · Cloud
Precipitation
Drizzle · Rain  · Snow · Graupel Freezing rain · Ice pellets · Hail
Topics
Meteorology · Climate Weather forecasting Heat wave · Air pollution Cold wave
Weather portal
v t e

A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds and low temperature. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have sustained winds or frequent gusts that are greater than or equal to 56 km/h (35 mph) with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or a quarter mile or less and must last for a prolonged period of time — typically three hours or more.^[1] Snowfall amounts do not have to be significant. In Australia a blizzard, by definition, necessarily contains at least some snow that has been raised from the ground.^[2]

A severe blizzard has winds over 72 km/h (45 mph), near zero visibility, and temperatures of −12 °C (10 °F) or lower. A ground blizzard has snowdrifts and blowing snow near the ground, but no falling snow.^[3]

Blizzards can bring near-whiteout conditions, and can paralyze regions for days at a time, particularly where snowfall is unusual or rare. The 1972 Iran blizzard, which caused approximately 4,000 deaths, was the deadliest in recorded history.

Contents 1 Historic events 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

Historic events

• Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011
• December 2010 North American blizzard
• Third North American blizzard of 2010
• Second North American blizzard of 2010
• First North American blizzard of 2010
• February 2007 North America Winter Storm
• Saskatchewan blizzard of 2007
• Blizzard of 1999
• Blizzard of 1996
• Great Blizzard of 1993
• Halloween Blizzard of 1991
• Chicago Blizzard of 1979
• Northeastern United States Blizzard of 1978
• Great Blizzard of 1978
• Blizzard of 1977
• Chicago Blizzard of 1967
• North American blizzard of 1947
• Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940
• Great Lakes Storm of 1913
• Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888, North American Great Plains
• Great Blizzard of 1888, Northeastern U.S.

See also

• Lake effect blizzard
• Nor'easter
• Whiteout (weather)

References

1. ^ Blizzard at the US National Weather Service glossary
2. ^ Blizzard definition, Weather Words, Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
3. ^ "Blizzard" Encyclopædia Britannica Online retrieved 17 March 2012

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Blizzard

• Digital Snow Museum Photos of historic blizzards and snowstorms.
• Farmers Almanac List of Worst Blizzards in the United States
• United States Search and Rescue Task Force: About Blizzards
• Scholastic.com: Snow and Blizzards
• Buffalo Blizzard Book. November 2011, by Paul K. Moore. The fascinating history of the Snow City's colossal snow events. The result of new research covering 200 years of newspaper accounts and other records.
• A Historical Review On The Origin and Definition of the Word Blizzard Dr Richard Wild

v t e Natural disasters Land movement Avalanches Earthquakes Lahar Mudflows Volcanic eruptions Water Floods Limnic eruptions Tsunami Weather Blizzards Cyclonic storms Droughts Hailstorms Heat waves Tornadoes Fire Wildfire Health and diseases Epidemic Famine Space Gamma-ray burst Impact events Solar flares Supernova Hypernova

This climatology/meteorology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - snestorm

Nederlands (Dutch)
sneeuwstorm, grote toestroom

Français (French)
n. - blizzard, tempête de neige

Deutsch (German)
n. - Blizzard, Schneetreiben

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - χιονοθύελλα

Italiano (Italian)
tormenta

Português (Portuguese)
n. - nevasca (f)

Русский (Russian)
буран, пурга, вьюга

Español (Spanish)
n. - ventisca

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - (häftig) snöstorm

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
大风雪, 暴风雪

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大風雪, 暴風雪

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 눈보라

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大吹雪, ブリザード

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) عاصفه ثلجيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סופת-שלג עזה‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.