70 Fun Facts About Blizzards

Under the US National Weather Service definition, a blizzard needs sustained winds or gusts of at least how many mph?

Visibility must also plunge for three hours or more; heavy snowfall is not actually required.

How far must visibility fall for a snowstorm to count as a blizzard in the United States?

Canada uses the same 400-metre threshold but a lower wind speed of 40 km/h.

What distinguishes a 'ground blizzard' from an ordinary one?

No precipitation falls at the time; loose surface snow simply gets picked up, which is why the Northern Plains can have whiteouts under clear skies.

The Oxford English Dictionary suggests 'blizzard' is onomatopoeic and related to which words?

Its first recorded weather use, in 1829, simply meant a 'violent blow'; it became common in newspapers during the winter of 1880–81.

A 'severe blizzard' has winds over 45 mph, near-zero visibility, and temperatures at or below what?

The January 1978 storm over Ohio was classed by the National Weather Service as a rare severe blizzard, its highest grade of winter storm.

In Antarctica, blizzards are driven by winds spilling off the ice plateau at roughly what average speed?

These katabatic winds are gravity-fed: dense cold air simply pours downhill off the ice sheet toward the coast.

In which year did Iran suffer the deadliest blizzard in recorded history?

About 200 villages were reportedly buried and wiped from the map by up to 26 feet of snow.

Roughly how many people died in the deadliest blizzard on record, in Iran?

Snow fell for up to a week, temperatures hit −25 °C and food and medicine ran out in the buried villages.

How deep did the snow get in parts of southern Iran during its record-breaking blizzard?

Contemporary reports said the city of Ardakan and villages around it were hit hardest, with no survivors in some.

On March 12, 1888, New York City's temperature fell from 33 °F to what as rain turned to snow?

The next day the city recorded a low of 6 °F, the coldest so late in the season, and a high of only 12.

Snowdrifts from the Great Blizzard of 1888 reportedly exceeded what height?

Drifts averaged 30 to 40 feet, over the roofs of houses from New York to New England, with some said to cover three-story homes.

Which New York town recorded the Great Blizzard of 1888's top total of 58 inches of snow?

Albany got 48 inches and New Haven 45, while New York City itself measured 22.

The transport gridlock of the Great Blizzard of 1888 helped inspire which piece of infrastructure?

Boston's opened nine years later, and New York's first underground line followed in 1904.

After the 1888 blizzard downed its lines, what did New York City start doing with its telegraph wires?

The storm had cut off Montreal and most of the big northeastern cities from each other for days.

For how many days did the New York Stock Exchange close during the Great Blizzard of 1888?

Roscoe Conkling, a powerful Republican senator, died a few weeks after trying to walk home through the storm.

The Great Blizzard of 1888 wrecked over 200 ships between New England and which bay?

At least 100 seamen died in the wrecks along the coast.

The Schoolhouse Blizzard of January 1888 was so deadly largely because it struck under what conditions?

Temperatures had climbed 20 to 40 °F ahead of the front, luring people out to do chores and send children to school.

The Schoolhouse Blizzard's official death toll of 235 makes it what on the world list of winter storms?

Some estimates run to 1,000 dead across the Plains, many of them children walking home from one-room schools.

Nebraska teacher Minnie Freeman became famous during the Schoolhouse Blizzard for doing what?

Her mile-and-a-half trek in Mira Valley made her a national heroine; songs and poems were written about it.

The Schoolhouse Blizzard was triggered by an Arctic cold front colliding with warm moist air from where?

Within hours the front dropped temperatures from just above freezing to −20 °F, and to −40 °F in some places.

Besides 'White Hurricane' and 'Big Blow', what was the 1913 Great Lakes Storm's third nickname?

It battered ships on four of the five lakes, worst of all Lake Huron.

How many ships were destroyed outright in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913?

Another 19 were stranded and more than 250 people died, making it the deadliest natural disaster in Great Lakes history.

Which ship was found floating upside-down off Michigan after the 1913 storm?

The 504-foot freighter capsized on Lake Huron; the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a different November gale, in 1975.

Which city got 22 inches of snow and 79 mph winds in the 1913 storm and was paralyzed for days?

Duluth and Chicago were also hit as the storm crossed the whole lakes region.

The Knickerbocker Storm of 1922 was named after a building that collapsed in which city?

The roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre gave way just after 9 p.m., killing 98 people and injuring 133.

How many people were killed when the Knickerbocker Theatre roof collapsed in 1922?

Roughly 22,400 square miles of the Northeast got 20 inches or more of snow from the storm.

The Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940 is remembered in Minnesota partly for killing large numbers of whom?

Hundreds had taken the unseasonably warm morning off to hunt along the Mississippi; hunters were about half of the 49 deaths in Minnesota.

Which famous structure did the storm system behind the 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard destroy days earlier?

'Galloping Gertie' twisted itself apart on November 7, 1940 in a 40 mph wind.

Which future NFL coach was caught duck hunting in the Armistice Day Blizzard?

He survived and went on to lead the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls.

How many deaths were blamed on the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940?

Temperatures fell 50 °F in places, and snow piled into 20-foot drifts across six states.

The 1950 Great Appalachian Storm set a November record low of 3 °F in which southern city?

Birmingham dropped to 5 °F and even Jacksonville hit 23 °F while hurricane-force winds cut power to a million customers up north.

Which New Hampshire city clocked a 110 mph wind gust during the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950?

Gusts reached 160 mph in the New England highlands, while the mountains' western slopes got blizzard conditions.

The Blizzard of 1977 buried which New York city, whose Lake Erie shore had frozen solid weeks earlier?

The frozen lake stopped lake-effect snow but left a deep powdery blanket that 69 mph gusts whipped into 30- to 40-foot drifts.

On what date had Lake Erie frozen over ahead of the Blizzard of 1977?

An unusually cold January kept the snow on the ice powdery, so there was plenty of loose material for the wind to move.

Which US president declared an emergency for New York and Pennsylvania during the Blizzard of 1977?

He had been in office less than two weeks; the same freak winter dropped snow on Miami on January 20.

The Great Blizzard of January 1978, which hit Ohio and the Great Lakes, is also known by what nickname?

Its pressure plunged 40 millibars in 24 hours, well past the 24 needed to count as a 'bomb' cyclone.

In the January 1978 blizzard, wind chills across Ohio reached roughly what value?

Ohio accounted for 51 of the storm's at least 90 deaths.

The January 1978 blizzard's 956 mb reading at Mount Clemens, Michigan ranked where among US non-tropical storms?

Detroit read 960 mb and Sarnia, Ontario bottomed out at 955.5 mb.

New England's Blizzard of '78 dropped heavy snow for an unprecedented stretch of how many hours?

A strong Canadian high blocked the storm from moving out to sea, so it stalled and dumped 4 inches an hour with thunder and lightning.

Fourteen people died on Route 128 near Boston during the Blizzard of '78 from what cause?

About 100 people died across the Northeast, and roads in eastern Massachusetts were closed to cars for the rest of the week.

Which Boston college hockey tournament was interrupted by the Blizzard of '78?

About 11,666 fans were in Boston Garden when the storm broke; many spent the night there.

Which Massachusetts governor became famous for sweater-clad TV briefings during the Blizzard of '78?

Connecticut governor Ella Grasso closed her state's roads for three days at the same time.

The 1993 'Storm of the Century' formed over which body of water on March 12?

It went on to snow on Birmingham, Alabama and pile 15-foot drifts on Mount Mitchell before dissipating on March 15.

How many deaths were attributed to the 1993 Storm of the Century?

Storm surge and tornadoes along Florida's Big Bend killed dozens even before the snow reached the North.

The 1993 Storm of the Century marked a forecasting first for the National Weather Service. What was it?

By March 8 the models had already flagged a major snowstorm; snow flurries later reached Jacksonville, Florida.

The 1993 superstorm's biggest snowfall, 56 inches, fell on Mount Le Conte in which state?

Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, the tallest peak in eastern North America, got 50 inches with 15-foot drifts.

In the US capital, the Blizzard of 1996 earned what nickname because it followed a federal government shutdown?

The storm kept the government closed even longer, and Dulles Airport measured 24.6 inches.

The 1993 Superstorm and the 1996 and 2016 blizzards are the only storms rated 5 on which index?

A 5 is labelled 'Extreme'; the scale weighs snowfall area against the population living under it.

'Snowmageddon' and 'Snowzilla' are portmanteaus of 'snow' with what?

'Snowpocalypse' completes the trio; the Washington Post also pushed 'kaisersnoze' during the February 2010 storms.

The January 2016 blizzard peaked with 42 inches of snow in Glengary, in which state?

Seven states saw more than 30 inches, and the storm killed at least 55 people.

The Weather Channel's unofficial name for the January 2016 East Coast blizzard was what?

On January 25 the University of Berlin, which names European lows, called the same system Karin.

Which governor imposed a travel ban on New York City and Long Island roads on January 23, 2016?

Mayor de Blasio had only issued an advisory; the ban shut buses, commuter rail and elevated subway lines.

The 2008 Afghanistan blizzard led hospitals to perform at least 100 of what procedure?

Many victims had walked barefoot through freezing mud and snow.

The Great Storm of January 1975 across the Upper Midwest is remembered by what nickname?

It is also called 'Minnesota's Storm of the Century', and produced snowfall over one of the widest areas of any US storm.

How does Environment Canada's wind threshold for a blizzard compare with the US one?

Canada also requires the storm to last longer than the US three-hour minimum in most regions.

What is a 'whiteout' in the strict sense?

On the treeless Northern Plains, ground blizzards can produce whiteouts even when no new snow is falling.

According to the US National Weather Service, what separates a blizzard from an ordinary snowstorm?

Sustained winds or frequent gusts of at least 35 mph must cut visibility to a quarter mile or less for three hours or more.

A nor'easter takes its name from what?

These macro-scale storms form off New England and Atlantic Canada, sometimes originating as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.

To count as a blizzard, a storm's conditions must typically persist for at least how long?

Severe cold and huge drifts often accompany blizzards but are not required by the definition.

Which Laura Ingalls Wilder book recounts her family's struggle through the blizzards of 1880–81?

The snow arrived in October 1880 and blizzard followed blizzard into March 1881, burying two-storey homes to their upper windows.

The record 1947 snowfall that dumped 26 inches on Central Park in 24 hours began on which day?

It came without high winds, but the steady snow piled drifts 10 feet deep and was blamed for 77 deaths.

Besides 'Super Bowl Blizzard', what other nickname does the great Upper Midwest blizzard of January 1975 carry?

Wind chills between −50 °F and −80 °F were recorded alongside deep snowfalls.

Which southern port was totally iced over during the unusual Great Blizzard of February 1899?

Mardi Gras revellers had to wait for parade routes to be shovelled clear, while Washington saw 51 straight hours of snow.

What share of Kansas's cattle reportedly froze to death in the blizzard of January 1886?

It was part of a run of brutal Plains winters from 1885 to 1888 that ended with the Schoolhouse Blizzard.

The Ash Wednesday storm of March 1962 dumped 42 inches of snow in which state?

Striking during spring high tides, it sat nearly stationary for five days and put Assateague Island under water.

Which Pacific Northwest city was buried by about four feet of snow in January 1880?

Barns collapsed and all transport halted, the same year the Snow Winter began on the Plains; it remained the city's biggest snowstorm into the 2020s.

In which year does the OED record the first use of 'blizzard' for weather, meaning a 'violent blow'?

It reached its modern sense by 1859 in the western United States and became common in the press during the harsh winter of 1880–81.

The Hessian Storm of December 1778 was named for German troops stranded by snow in which state?

Drifts 15 feet high were reported as the blizzard swept from Pennsylvania to New England during the Revolutionary War.

At least how many people died in the January 2008 Afghanistan blizzard?

Temperatures fell to −30 °C, and more than 100,000 sheep and goats and nearly 315,000 cattle also perished.

Which town in today's South Dakota was mostly washed away when the 1881 thaw flooded the Missouri?

Massive ice jams clogged the river after a winter with no thaws and a nine-day blizzard in February.