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A "Blizzard" is a severe winter storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow. Blizzards are formed when a high pressure system, also known as a ridge, interacts with a low pressure system; this results in the advection of air from the high pressure zone into the low pressure area. The term blizzard is sometimes misused by news media to describe a large winter storm that does not actually satisfy official blizzard criteria. A blizzard is a severe winter storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy snow. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... A typical view of a winter storm. ... For other uses, see Temperature (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Wind (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Snow (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Anticyclone. ... A large low-pressure system swirls off the southwestern coast of Iceland, illustrating the maxim that nature abhors a vacuum. ... News media satellite up-link trucks and photojournalists gathered outside the Prudential Financial headquarters in Newark, New Jersey in August, 2004 following the announcement of evidence of a terrorist threat to it and to buildings in New York City. ...

Geography

Even though some areas are more likely to experience blizzards than others, it is possible for a blizzard to occur in any location where there is snow and high winds. In North America, blizzards are particularly common to the extreme portions of the Northeastern United States, the Northern Great Plains in the United States, Atlantic Canada, and the Canadian Prairie Provinces. Blizzard conditions also occur frequently in the mountain ranges in western North America, however since these regions are sparsely populated they are often not reported.

Definition

According to Environment Canada, a winter storm must have winds of 40 km/h (25 mph) or more, have snow or blowing snow, visibility less than 1 km (about ⁵⁄₈ mile), a wind chill of less than −25 °C (−13 °F), and that all of these conditions must last for 4 hours or more before the storm can be properly called a blizzard. Environment Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for coordinating environmental policies and programs as well as preserving and enhancing the natural environment and conservation of wildlife. ... Wind chill is the apparent temperature felt on the exposed human (or animal) body due to the combination of air temperature and wind speed. ... For other uses, see Fahrenheit (disambiguation). ...

In the United States, the National Weather Service defines a blizzard as sustained 35 mph (56 km/h) winds which leads to blowing snow and causes visibilities of ¼ mile or less, lasting for at least 3 hours. Temperature is not taken into consideration when issuing a blizzard warning, but the nature of these storms are such that cold air is often present when the other criteria are met. ^[1] The National Weather Service (NWS) is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government. ... An NOAA national weather map This article describes severe weather terminology used by the U.S. National Weather Service. ...

Other countries, such as the UK, have a lower threshold: the Met Office defines a blizzard as "moderate or heavy snow" combined with a mean wind speed of 30 mph (48 km/h) and visibility below 650 feet (200 m). The new building on the edge of Exeter The Met Office (originally an abbreviation for Meteorological Office, but now the official name in itself), which has its headquarters at Exeter in Devon, is the United Kingdoms national weather service. ...

When there are blizzard conditions but no snow falling, meteorologists call this a ground blizzard because all the snow is already present at the surface of the earth and is simply being blown by high winds. Ground blizzards require large expanses of open and relatively flat land with a sufficient amount of accumulated and loosely packed powdery snow to be blown around. // Meteorology (from Greek: μετέωρον, meteoron, high in the sky; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... A ground blizzard in Ontario, March 21st, 2004 The term Ground Blizzard refers to a weather condition where loose snow or ice on the ground is lifted and blown by strong winds. ...

The origin of the word "blizzard" is believed to be a German settler describing a storm to an Estherville, Iowa, newspaper reporter in Marshall, a small town in southwestern Minnesota.^[2] Grain elevator in Estherville, Iowa. ... Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Largest metro area Minneapolis-St. ...

Whiteouts

An extreme form of blizzard is a whiteout, when downdrafts coupled with snowfall become so severe that it is impossible to distinguish the ground from the air. People caught in a whiteout can quickly become disoriented, losing their sense of direction. This poses an extreme risk to the aviation community when flying at the altitude of the storm or navigating an airport, severe ice accretion on the wings may also result. Whiteout is a weather condition in which visibility is reduced by snow and diffuse lighting from overcast clouds. ... A downdraft is downward moving air, usually the direct result of air convection within the thunderstorm. ... Aviation encompasses all the activities relating to airborne devices created by human ingenuity, generally known as aircraft. ...

Etymology

The Word 'Blizzard' was first used in 1870 during a severe snowstorm in Iowa and Minnesota, by an Estherville, Iowa newspaper. The word has its origins in boxing, referring to a volley of punches in Boxing. The word was first used by the USA signal corps weather service in 1876.

Notable blizzards

This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

A snowbound locomotive, photographed on March 29, 1881, in western Minnesota.

The Great Blizzard of 1888 paralyzed the Northeastern United States for several days. In that blizzard, 400 people were killed, 200 ships were sunk, and snowdrifts towered 15 to 50 feet high. Earlier that year, the Great Plains states were struck by the Schoolhouse Blizzard that left children trapped in schoolhouses and killed 235 people. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Largest metro area Minneapolis-St. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Map of the US northeast. ... For other uses, see Ship (disambiguation). ... A fairly common sight during snowstorms big and small. ... For other uses, see Great Plains (disambiguation). ... The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildrens Blizzard (or The Childrens Blizzard), hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. ...

The Armistice Day Blizzard in 1940 caught many people off guard with its rapid and extreme temperature change. It was 60 °F in the morning, but by noon, it was snowing heavily. Some of those caught unprepared died by freezing to death in the snow and some while trapped in their cars. Altogether, 154 people died in the Armistice Day Blizzard. Unpredictable storms such as this one can come without much warning, causing damage and destruction to humans and infrastructure. The Armistice Day Blizzard took place in the United States on November 11 (Armistice Day) and 12 November 1940. ... Hypothermia is a condition in which an organisms temperature drops below that Required fOr normal metabolism and Bodily functionS. In warm-blooded animals, core [[body Temperature]] is maintained nEar a constant leVel through biologic [[homEostasis]]. But wheN the body iS exposed to cold Its internal mechanismS may be unable...

One hundred five years to the day (March 12) after the Great Blizzard of 1888, a massive blizzard, nicknamed the Storm of the Century, hit the U.S in 1993. It dropped snow over 26 states and reached as far north as Canada and as far south as Mexico. In many southern U.S. areas, such as parts of Alabama, more snow fell in this storm than ever fell in an entire winter. Highways and airports were closed across the U.S. As a wider effect, the storm spawned 15 tornadoes in Florida. When the storm was over, it affected at least half of the U.S. population; 270 people died and 48 were reported missing at sea. is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1Maximum snowfall or ice accretion The 1993 North American storm complex, also known as the ’93 Superstorm, the (Great) Blizzard of 1993, or the Storm of the Century, was a large cyclonic storm that occurred on March 12–March 15, 1993, on the East Coast of North America. ... Historic Southern United States. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... This article is about the weather phenomenon. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Florida. ...

References

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Blizzard

• Dr Richard Wild Website dedicated to the history, news and facts about heavy snow and blizzards.
• Digital Snow Museum Photos of historic blizzards and snowstorms.
• Blizzards Photo Gallery Photos of huge U.S. snowstorms, plus blizzard survival info — all from AOL Research & Learn
• Environment Canada's definition of Blizzard
  • Severe Winter Weather Events Excerpts from The Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar
• http://www.ussartf.org/blizzards.htm
• http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4912