Blizzards

Source: Blizzard Watch Through Friday Night in Western Montana | KGVO.com

Blizzards are intense winter storms with heavy snowfall, sustained winds of at least 35 miles per hour and visibility reduced to less than a quarter of a mile for a minimum of 3 hours. While heavy snowfalls (~30" or more) and cold temperatures are observed with blizzards, they aren’t required. If visibilities are reduced because of the wind is blowing snow that’s already fallen, it still counts as a blizzard. The conditions of a blizzard typically form on the northwest of a storm, due to the pressure gradient between the low and high pressures is at its largest, this is where the strongest winds will occur. Blizzards are extremely dangerous. The near zero visibilities make travel hazardous and brutal wind chills can cause hypothermia and frostbite. The name was given to the storms in a 1870 newspaper from Iowa. Up until that point, the term blizzard had been used to talk about musket fire.