11 Facts About Blizzards

1. A blizzard is a severe snowstorm usually accompanied by high winds, blowing snow and very cold temperatures.
2. The National Weather Services defines blizzards as large amounts of falling or blowing snow with winds in excess of 35 mph and visibilities of less than ¼ of a mile for a period of more than 3 hours.
3. Blizzards and severe snowstorms have a number of dangers including blowing snow that can cause whiteout conditions that make driving and walking nearly impossible.
4. High winds coupled with low temperatures can create wind chill effects that pose a greater danger and can cause frostbite or hypothermia. For example, with an air temperature of 0 degrees and a 30 mph wind, the air against your skin will feel like -26 degrees. At this temperature, you can experience frostbite in only 30 minutes.
5. Rochester, New York is the snowiest large city in the U.S., averaging 94 inches of snow a year.
6. About 187 inches of snow fell in seven days on Thompson Pass, Alaska in February, 1953. The greatest daily snow fall was 62 inches also on Thompson Pass, Alaska.
7. Some of the most memorable blizzards in the U.S. have occurred on the East Coast, known as Nor'easters. The storms stall over the coast and last anywhere from 12 to 24 hours with snow amounts measured in feet rather than inches.
8. 1888 has the distinction of being the year of two legendary storms. The Schoolhouse Blizzard struck the Plains States in January from Texas to South Dakota, stranding children in their one-room schoolhouses, hence the name. About 235 people died, most of them school-aged kids on their way home that never realized they had no chance of traversing the whiteout conditions, where the ground could not be differentiated from the sky.
9. In the Great Blizzard of 1888, snowfalls of 40-50 inches fell in parts of NJ, NY, MA and CT and produced snowdrifts of more than 50 feet. Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their houses for up to a week. People tried to go to work for fear of losing their jobs, and almost 30 of them in New York alone froze to death on their way home after they found there was no electricity.
10. If caught outside in a blizzard, it is not a good idea to eat snow because it will lower your body temperature. It’s best to melt the snow first.
11. When treating hypothermia, the extremities (arms and legs) should not be warmed first because this will drive cold blood to the heart which can lead to heart failure.