61 Fun Facts About Blizzards

A US blizzard's 35 mph wind minimum falls just short of the 39 mph threshold for what?

A tropical storm begins at sustained winds of 39 mph, so a blizzard blows almost as hard. The official definition never asks how much snow falls: wind and poor visibility are what count.

To count as a blizzard in the United States, a snowstorm must cut visibility to what distance or less?

A quarter mile, about 400 metres, is the limit. A storm that dumps deep snow but leaves longer views is a winter storm, not a blizzard.

What sets a 'ground blizzard' apart from an ordinary one?

No snow is falling in a ground blizzard: wind simply lifts loose snow already lying on the land. That is why the Great Plains can white out under a clear sky after a storm has passed.

The Oxford English Dictionary calls 'blizzard' probably onomatopoeic and likens it to which words?

Blow, blast, blister and bluster are the words the OED sets beside it. As a name for snowstorms, the word swept the American press in the hard winter of 1880-81.

Which Australian explorer titled his account of an Antarctic expedition 'The Home of the Blizzard'?

Douglas Mawson named the book for his base at Cape Denison, where gales blew almost without a break. He reached it alone after both companions on a sledging journey had died.

Which winds pour off Antarctica's ice plateau and whip up its fiercest blizzards?

Katabatic winds are cold, dense air sliding downhill under its own weight. Air chilled on the high ice sheet pours toward the coast the way water runs off a roof.

Iran's blizzard of February 1972, the deadliest on record, struck after four years of what?

Drought had gripped Iran for four years when a week of snow arrived all at once. It wiped about 200 villages off the map.

Roughly how many people died in Iran's 1972 blizzard, the deadliest on record?

About 4,000 people died. When the snow paused on 9 February, helicopter crews flew out and found smooth white drifts where villages had stood.

How deep did the snow lie in parts of southern Iran after the deadly blizzard of February 1972?

About 26 feet of snow, deeper than a two-storey building is tall, lay on the worst-hit areas. It snapped telephone lines and buried trains and whole villages.

In which city did voters oust the mayor in a 1979 primary, six weeks after a blizzard left streets unplowed?

Chicago took about 20 inches in two days and its plows fell far behind. Challenger Jane Byrne beat Mayor Michael Bilandic in the primary on 27 February and became the city's first woman mayor.

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

The paralysis of elevated trains and streetcars pushed cities to put transit underground: Boston's Tremont Street Subway, America's first, opened in 1897 and New York's first underground line in 1904.

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

Burying them underground was New York's answer after the storm tore down the overhead wires and cut the city off from Boston, Washington and Montreal for days.

After the 1888 blizzard, which storm next shut the New York Stock Exchange for two full days?

Hurricane Sandy shut the exchange on 29 and 30 October 2012, as its surge flooded Lower Manhattan's streets and road tunnels. No weather had closed it for two full days in 124 years.

The Great Blizzard of 1888 paralysed the East Coast from Maine south to which bay?

Chesapeake Bay marked the southern edge of the paralysis. More than 400 people died, about 100 of them sailors caught at sea.

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

Suddenly, on a mild workday: the morning's warmth drew people out to their chores and sent children to class. Within hours the front had dropped temperatures far below zero.

Which US president publicly called a blizzard in the capital 'Snowmageddon'?

Barack Obama used the word in February 2010, after the Washington Post's weather blog and its readers had given the storm that name. The storm dropped 18 to 32 inches on the region.

Nebraska teacher Minnie Freeman became a national heroine of the 1888 Schoolhouse Blizzard for doing what?

Leading her pupils to safety through the blinding storm made Freeman its best-known heroine. Other teachers tried the same walk that day, and some of their pupils died.

Which explorer died on the way back from the South Pole in 1912, pinned in his tent by a blizzard?

Robert Falcon Scott reached the Pole only to find that Roald Amundsen had beaten him there by about a month. On the way back the blizzard held his party in their tent for nine days as supplies ran out.

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

The Freshwater Fury joined 'White Hurricane' and 'Big Blow' as names for a blizzard with hurricane-force winds. It wrecked ships on four of the five Great Lakes.

Which Great Lake swallowed eight freighters with all hands in 1913's 'White Hurricane'?

Lake Huron claimed eight big freighters and every sailor aboard them. For days afterwards the bodies of crewmen washed ashore along the Ontario coast.

How was the 'mystery ship' Charles S. Price found after 1913's Great Lakes storm?

Floating upside-down off Port Huron, the ship stayed afloat for about a week, and nobody could name it. A diver finally went down to the hull and identified it.

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

Cleveland took 22 inches of snow on winds of 79 mph, with streetcars stalled and power and telephone lines down for days; Duluth and Chicago were also hit as the storm crossed the lakes region.

Despite its New York-sounding name, the Knickerbocker Storm of 1922 was named for a building that collapsed where?

Washington, D.C., lost 98 people when the flat roof of its Knickerbocker Theatre gave way under 28 inches of snow during a Saturday-night film. The collapse gave the storm its name.

Which future Second World War general led the rescue at the collapsed Knickerbocker Theatre in 1922?

George S. Patton, then an Army major, was called out to take charge of the troops digging through the wreckage. The roof's collapse had killed 98 people.

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

Unseasonable morning warmth had drawn hundreds of duck hunters onto the Mississippi backwaters; trapped on islands and sandbars by the sudden freeze, they made up about half of Minnesota's 49 deaths.

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

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, nicknamed 'Galloping Gertie', twisted itself apart in a 40 mph wind on 7 November 1940 as the Pacific storm that later became the Armistice Day Blizzard came ashore.

Which future NFL coach, then a 13-year-old, was caught outdoors in the Armistice Day Blizzard?

Bud Grant, a 13-year-old from Superior, Wisconsin, groped through the storm to a railway line and then a gas station, where he sheltered. He later coached the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls.

The Armistice Day Blizzard of 11 November 1940 killed more than a million of which farm animals?

Turkeys bound for Thanksgiving tables died of exposure in their flocks, more than a million across the Upper Midwest. The sudden cold also killed thousands of cattle.

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

Atlanta fell to 3 °F and Birmingham to 5 °F as Arctic air poured south behind the storm. Further north its hurricane-force winds cut power to about a million customers.

Which college football rivalry was played through the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 and nicknamed the Snow Bowl?

Michigan–Ohio State kicked off in Columbus in a blizzard, and the teams punted 45 times, sometimes on first down. Michigan won 9–3 without making a single first down.

Which Great Lakes city did the Blizzard of 1977 bury under wind-packed drifts as high as houses?

Buffalo's Courier-Express failed to print for the first time in 143 years, and the National Guard was called in to help dig the city out.

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

Jimmy Carter, barely a week in office, declared an emergency that put federal crews in charge of clearing the snow. He then made seven counties the first disaster area ever declared for a snowstorm.

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

The Cleveland Superbomb earned its name when the storm's central pressure fell about 40 millibars in 24 hours. A fall of 24 is enough to make a storm a 'bomb'.

Which president was sworn in hours after eight inches of snow jammed the capital with abandoned cars?

John F. Kennedy's inauguration eve, 19 January 1961, brought the snow and a crippling traffic jam. Army engineers worked through the night to clear the parade route.

For how long did snow fall on Boston without a break in the Blizzard of '78?

About 33 hours of snow fell because the storm slowed off the New England coast instead of heading out to sea. Boston ended with 27.1 inches, its deepest snowfall on record at the time.

In the Blizzard of '78, which highway ringing Boston became a graveyard of some 3,500 stranded cars and trucks?

Route 128 trapped about 3,000 cars and 500 trucks in the drifts. Massachusetts banned driving for the rest of the week while National Guard troops dug the highways out.

Which Boston event stranded hundreds of fans for days in the Blizzard of '78?

The Beanpot, contested by Boston's four big college hockey teams, was being played at Boston Garden as the storm hit. Hundreds of fans were stranded there for days, sleeping in locker rooms and eating leftover hot dogs.

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

Michael Dukakis went on local television in a sweater to read out emergency orders, and banned driving for the week. Seven months later he lost the Democratic primary to Edward J. King.

The Superstorm of March 1993 reached from Canada south to which Caribbean island, where its squalls did heavy damage?

Cuba was raked by thunderstorm winds estimated at well over 100 mph as the storm's squall line crossed the island. Within a day the same system was burying the eastern United States in snow.

Which state took a 12-foot surge and deadly tornadoes from the Superstorm of March 1993?

Florida lost more than 40 people to the tornadoes, the surge and the wind, which struck its Big Bend coast in the night. Snow then fell on the Panhandle.

The 1993 Superstorm's deepest snow, about five feet, fell in which southern mountains?

The Great Smoky Mountains took the most, on Tennessee's Mount Le Conte, more than fell anywhere in New York or New England. North Carolina's Mount Mitchell came next with 50 inches.

The Blizzard of 1996 kept US federal workers at home just after what had ended?

A government shutdown of three weeks had just ended when the snow arrived, so federal offices stayed closed. Washingtonians named it the Great Furlough Storm.

NESIS, the scale that ranks Northeast snowstorms from 1 to 5, weighs snowfall against what?

The number of people under it: NESIS combines the area and depth of snow with the population living there. A storm that buries the big cities therefore outranks a deeper one over empty country.

Which Canadian city declared a state of emergency during 'Snowmageddon' in January 2020?

St. John's, Newfoundland, declared a state of emergency on 17 January 2020 as 76 cm (30 inches) fell in a day, a record for the city. All but emergency travel was banned and businesses were told to close.

On which mountain did a single blizzard kill eight climbers in May 1996?

Everest's storm caught several expeditions high on the mountain late on 10 May 1996. Journalist Jon Krakauer, climbing with one of the teams, survived and told the story in the bestseller Into Thin Air.

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

The Weather Channel named the 22-24 January 2016 storm Winter Storm Jonas under the naming scheme it began in the 2012-13 winter; the National Weather Service declined to adopt the names.

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

Andrew Cuomo banned travel on every road in New York City and the state roads of Long Island, and closed the Hudson River crossings. Buses stopped at noon and above-ground trains that afternoon.

The 1991 blizzard that buried Duluth under a then-record 37 inches of snow is named for which autumn holiday?

Halloween night began with rain that turned to ice and then snow while children were out trick-or-treating. Duluth's 36.9 inches by 3 November set a state record for one storm.

Canada's blizzard warnings require four hours of blinding wind-blown snow, but six hours in which region?

North of the tree line a blizzard warning needs six hours of such conditions, not four. Canada's wind threshold of 40 km/h is lower than the 56 km/h used in the United States.

What is a 'whiteout' in the strict sense?

Conditions with no visible horizon define a true whiteout: sky and snow merge into one blank field. With nothing to steer by, people have lost their way within a few steps of their own front doors.

A 1772 snowstorm that buried the Potomac region three feet deep is named for which two future presidents?

Washington and Jefferson each wrote the storm down in a diary, which is how its three-foot depth is known. No official weather records were kept in the region until after the Civil War.

A nor'easter takes its name from what?

The direction the wind comes from gives the name: the storm itself tracks north-east up the coast, but the winds on its landward side blow in from the northeast.

To count as a blizzard, a US storm's wind and poor visibility must typically last at least how long?

Three hours is the minimum the National Weather Service sets. Severe cold and deep drifts often come with a blizzard, but neither is part of the definition.

Which author lived through the blizzards of 1880–81 as a teenager and retold them in The Long Winter?

Laura Ingalls Wilder was 13 when the first blizzard struck in October 1880. In the book her family twists hay for fuel and grinds wheat in a coffee mill while no train can reach the town.

The great Upper Midwest blizzard of January 1975 is also remembered by which nickname?

Minnesota's Storm of the Century piled drifts up to 20 feet high on 10–12 January 1975, while the same weather system spun off 45 tornadoes across the Southeast.

Which southern port city saw ice floes drifting down its river during the Great Blizzard of February 1899?

New Orleans saw ice drift down the Mississippi and out to sea, and that year's Mardi Gras is the coldest in records back to 1874: the Rex parade had to wait while snow was cleared from its route.

The Ash Wednesday storm of March 1962 buried Big Meadows, in which state's Blue Ridge, under 42 inches of snow?

Big Meadows in Virginia measured 42 inches, while on the coast the storm lingered through five high tides and wrecked a resort being built on Assateague Island, which became a national seashore instead.

Which Pacific Northwest city was buried by its record 'Big Snow' over five days in January 1880?

Seattle was buried from 5 January 1880: the snow drifted more than six feet deep in places, collapsed barns and halted all transport, and local historians still ranked it the city's biggest 122 years later.

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

Rhode Island was partly occupied by British and Hessian forces at the time, and the troops posted there were stranded in deep snow as the blizzard swept from Pennsylvania to New England.

Weather Channel forecaster Jim Cantore whooped with joy on live TV in 2015 at which rare blizzard phenomenon?

Thundersnow is a snowstorm with thunder and lightning; when it struck Plymouth, Massachusetts, in February 2015, Cantore could not contain his excitement on air and the clip drew millions of views.

Which Dakota Territory town was mostly washed away by the Missouri's 1881 thaw flood and then rebuilt atop the bluffs?

Vermillion stood on the river bottomland until snowmelt and ice jams after the hard winter of 1880–81 sent the Missouri through it; its residents then chose to rebuild the whole town on the bluff above.