A blizzard is a severe snow storm with winds in excess of 35 mph and visibility of less than a 1/4 mile for more than 3 hours. Blizzards can occur after snowfall when high winds cause whiteouts (fallen snow blowing around) and snowdrifts (huge mountains of snow), which decrease visibility. If you must travel by car during a blizzard, it is vital to have an emergency aid kit (water, jumper cables, road flares, tow rope, non-perishable snacks) in case your car breaks down; you get into an accident, or become stuck in the snow.
To avoid hypothermia if caught outdoors during a blizzard, stay hydrated and nourished. You keep your blood flowing by moving around. Build a snow cave to block winds, which reduce your body temperature. Don't eat snow because it will make you colder. While keeping yourself safe, think about the well-being of your animals by creating an emergency plan for your pets. (Sign up for Save Our Pets.)
Many blizzards stem from Nor’Easters, which are storms traveling up the east coast of America. Moisture gathers from the Atlantic and dumps large accumulations of snow all the way from Delaware to Maine. Below you’ll discover some of the most notable blizzards in the United States (U.S.):
1.
March 11-14, 1888: More than 120
winters have come and gone since the so-called “Great White Hurricane,” but this storm
still lives in notoriety. After a stretch of rainy but unseasonably mild
weather, temperatures plunged and vicious winds kicked up, blanketing the East
Coast in snow and creating drifts up to 50 feet high. The storm immobilized New
York, Boston and other major cities, blocking roads and wiping out telephone,
telegraphs and rail service for several days.
When the skies
finally cleared, fires and flooding inflicted millions of dollars of damage.
The disaster resulted in more than 400 deaths, including 200 in New York City
alone. In the decade that followed, partly in response to the 1888 storm and
the massive gridlock it wrought, New York and Boston broke ground on the
country’s first underground subway systems.
2.
January 27-28, 1922: The Knickerbocker
Storm battered the upper south and middle Atlantic U.S. for two days, dumping a
record-breaking 28 inches of snow on Washington, D.C. By the evening of January
28, the storm was winding down, and several hundred people ventured out to
catch a showing of the silent film “Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford” at the
Knickerbocker Theatre, the capital’s largest and most modern movie house.
During the intermission, the theater’s flat
roof gave way under the weight of the wet snow, and concrete, bricks and metal
rained down onto the audience. One of the deadliest in Washington’s history,
the disaster claimed 98 lives and gave the storm its name.
3.
February 5-7, 1978: A week after Ohio
experienced its worst winter storm in history; the Northeast got its own taste
of nature’s wrath. On February 5, when snowflakes failed to materialize in the
pre-dawn hours as meteorologists had predicted, many people chalked it up to
faulty forecasting and went about their lives. Later that day, hurricane-force
winds and whiteout conditions took them by surprise. The storm pummeled
gridlocked highways, forcing drivers and passengers to abandon their cars or be
buried along with them.
Massive snowdrifts
trapped families in their homes and workers in their offices. In Massachusetts
and Rhode Island, record snowfalls left residents without heat, water or
electricity for more than a week; roughly 10,000 took refuge in shelters.
Meanwhile, severe flooding damaged or destroyed homes on the Long Island Sound
and Cape Cod Bay. An estimated 100 people perished in this crushing nor’easter.[i]
4.
March 12-15, 1993: Causing 300 deaths,
10 million power outages, and $6 to $10
billion in damages, the “Storm of the Century” lived up to the hype. It was iconic for its hurricane wind force and massive size. Those staggering
numbers might have been far worse were it not for significant advances in U.S.
weather forecasting not long before the mighty blizzard struck. Sophisticated
computer models allowed the National Weather Service to issue a severe storm
warning two days in advance. For the first time, governors could declare a
state of emergency before a single snowflake fell.
That didn’t stop it
from falling with a vengeance. The storm affected at least 26 U.S. states and
much of eastern Canada, reaching as far south as Jacksonville, Florida. It
dumped several feet of snow on regions that typically see less than an inch of
powder a year, forcing officials to scrape together winter emergency plans. On
the Atlantic seaboard, hurricane-force winds stirred up mammoth swells, and
more than 15 homes were swept out to sea on the eastern shore of Long Island.
5.
January 6-10, 1996: While not
technically a blizzard, the “Blizzard of 1996” paralyzed an immense area of the
East Coast with three days of heavy, wet snow. It started in typical fashion,
as cold air from Canada pushed down and collided with relatively warm winds
from the Gulf of Mexico. On the evening of January 6, snow and sleet began
hammering Washington, D.C., Baltimore and surrounding areas.
Over the next few
days, the storm made its way northeast, breaking records along the way. By the
time it subsided, it had deposited between 17 and 30 inches of wind-driven snow
on every city along the Eastern seaboard. Temperatures rose quickly in the wake
of the nor’easter, and rivers and streams surged with the sudden meltdown. The
1996 storm claimed the lives of 154 people, many of whom died in car accidents,
and the ensuing floods killed 33 more.
6.
February 2010: In the U.S., the
new decade came in like a lion with not one, not two, but three blizzards all
within a span of 20 snowy days. Between February 1 and 6, a severe winter storm
swept the country from coast to coast, piling record amounts of snow in the
Mid-Atlantic States. On February 9, a second storm produced high winds and
heavy snowfalls from Washington, D.C., to Boston. And on February 25, a
slow-moving system crippled the Northeast yet again, leaving hundreds of
thousands of residents without power.
7.
December 26-27, 2010: Many Americans who
missed out on a white Christmas got their fill of snow when a blizzard carved a
path of disruption down the East Coast, leaving thousands of travelers across
the country stranded as airlines grounded more than 7,000 flights.
Pummeling many
regions from midday on December 26 through the following afternoon, the
post-holiday storm featured a rare meteorological event known as thundersnow, in
which thunder and lightning are accompanied by heavy snow rather than rain. New
York City’s transportation system took a particularly harsh beating, with
passengers stranded in subway cars for up to nine hours and abandoned buses
scattering the unplowed streets. Snowfall was deepest in Rahway, New Jersey,
which received a whopping 32 inches.
“Blizzards,
floods, volcanoes, [and]
hurricanes, earthquakes: They fascinate because they nakedly reveal that Mother
Nature, afflicted with bipolar disorder, is as likely to snuff us as she is to
succor us.” (Dean
Koontz) [ii]
[i] I was 14 at the time “the Blizzard of 1978” hit. The
one thing I remember most was how difficult it was for me and my two siblings
to deliver the local newspaper through the high snow.
[ii] Sources used:
·
“11 Facts about Blizzards” by DoSomething.org
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