What causes blizzards?
A blizzard is a severe weather condition characterized by low temperatures and strong winds (greater than 35 mph) bearing a great amount of snow, either falling or blowing. Because the factors involving classification of winter storms are complex, there are many different definitions of blizzard. A major consensus is that in order to be classified as a blizzard, as opposed to merely a winter storm, the weather must meet several conditions. The storm must decrease visibility to a quarter of a mile for three consecutive hours, include snow or ice as precipitation, and have wind speeds of at least 32 mph (seven or more on the Beaufort Wind Scale). Another standard, according to Environment Canada, is that the winter storm must have winds of 40 km/h or more, have snow or blowing snow, visibility less than 1 km, a wind chill of less than -25 degrees Celsius, and all of these conditions must last for 4 hours or more, before the storm can be properly called a blizzard. When all of these condi
