When the sun disappears and the sky turns into a blinding blanket of white snow you can bet you’re headed into a blizzard Blizzards are storms of epic proportions characterized by a high quantity of blowing snow and strong fast winds These storms are forces of nature often responsible for power outages property damage and sometimes multiple casualties BLlNDlNG BLlZZARDS IN NOVEMBER 1950 THE GREAT APPALACHIAN STORM RAGED THROUGH EASTERN AMERICA DUMPING OVER 30 INCHES 76 CM OF SNOW IN AREAS FROM NORTH CAROLINA TO OHIO AND WEST VIRGINIA 4 SNOWFALL in inches 2-6 6-12 12-18 18-24 24
The United States has seen its fair share of blizzards from the Great Blizzard of 1888 to Winter Storm Jonas of 2016 In this book we’ll examine the makings of a blizzard a few extreme blizzards throughout American history and how we can prepare for the blizzards of the future 5 WINTER STORM JONAS NEW YORK CITY
BREAKING NEWS BLIZZARD According to the U S National Weather Service NWS a blizzard is a storm that lasts at least three hours and includes large amounts of falling or blowing snow Blizzard winds are faster than 35 miles 56 km per hour and visibility is less than 1 4 mile 0 4 km A severe blizzard is one with temperatures below 10 F 12 C winds above 45 miles 72 km per hour and visibility near zero THE BACKSTORY OF BLlZZARDS THE WORD BLIZZARD ORIGINALLY MEANT A LARGE AMOUNT OF GUNFIRE IN THE 1870S A NEWSPAPER IN IOWA USED BLIZZARD TO DESCRIBE A SNOWSTORM SOON BLIZZARD BECAME THE COMMON TERM FOR A MAJOR SNOWSTORM 6
7 EXPLORE MORE NOT ALL SNOWSTORMS ARE BLIZZARDS AND NOT ALL BLIZZARDS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY FALLING SNOW SOMETIMES STRONG WINDS BLOW AROUND SNOW THAT HAS ALREADY FALLEN CREATING A BLIZZARD THE BLOWING SNOW CAUSES THE SAME BLINDING UNSAFE CONDITIONS AS FALLING SNOW VISIBILITY THE ABILITY TO SEE OR BE SEEN
