Download Blizzards

What Are Blizzards?
 Severe snowstorm
 Strong winds
 Limited visibility (white
out)
 Cold temperatures
 Heavy snowfall
sometimes
Classification
 Blizzard
 35-44 mph winds
 Visibility less than 500
feet for 3 consecutive
hours
 Severe Blizzard
 45+ mph winds
 Almost no visibility
Formation
 Cold air mass (cP, cA) meets warm air mass (mT, mP)
 Cold front forms (sometimes two cold fronts); low
pressure
 Low pressure creates strong winds (strong pressure
gradient)
 Very tight (close) isobars
Location
 Blizzard Country
 Midwest US
 Central Canada
Blizzard Information
 Can produce rain, snow, sleet, and hail
 Last for at least 3 hours
 Can last for days
 Very dangerous
Effects
 Whiteouts
 Freeze roads
 Limit visibility
 Power outage
 Freeze pipes
Effects
 Frostbite- caused from
destruction of skin and
tissue
 Hypothermia- body
temperature drops under
95 degrees
 Too cold of temperature
required for bodily
functions
 Leads to death if not
treated
Iran Blizzard
 February, 1972
 Most deadly blizzard
 4,000+ deaths
Safety
 Store water in case pipes
freeze
 Warm clothes to prevent
hypothermia
 Stay indoors
 Stay off roads
Storm of the Century
 Also known as the 93 super storm.
 It occurred on March 12-15, 1993.
 It was a large cyclonic storm that occurred on the east
coast of North America.
 Meteorologists were able to accurately predict a
system's severity five days in advance.
 The storm brought low as 2 inches of snow in
Louisiana and high as 60 inches of snow in Tennessee.
 The storm killed 300 people.
Blizzard v. Ice storm
 Ice storm = layers of glaze
 Most damage due to weight of ice (power lines, trees,
structures)
 Significant threats Fires (no access to water to extinguish fires)
 Driving usually more dangerous in an ice storm v. blizzard ( icy
roads harder to compensate for versus reduced visibility as in a
blizzard)