Q 01/05

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

A) 55 mph

B) 45 mph

C) 35 mph

D) 74 mph

Answer · why

C) 35 mph

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

Q 02/05

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

A) One mile or less at most

B) Half a mile or less

C) One hundred feet or less

D) A quarter mile or less

Answer · why

D) A quarter mile or less

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

Q 03/05

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

A) Heavy snow falls but with no wind at all present

B) It stays confined to mountain valleys and passes

C) It forms only over the ice of frozen lakes

D) Old snow blown by wind, with nothing falling

Answer · why

D) Old snow blown by wind, with nothing falling

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.

Q 04/05

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

A) Blow, blast, blister and bluster

B) Bliss, blend, blur, blush and blather

C) Blitz, blight, blank, bleak and blither

D) Blaze, blink, blanch, blench and blither

Answer · why

A) Blow, blast, blister and bluster

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

Q 05/05

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

A) 10 °F (−12 °C)

B) −20 °F (−29 °C)

C) 0 °F (−18 °C)

D) −10 °F (−23 °C)

Answer · why

A) 10 °F (−12 °C)

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