Winter storms cause havoc in regions affected. Blizzards disrupt life and cause loss of lives, lessened productivity due to inability to reach work places, schools closings, airports are closed, delay in delivery of products etc. The sky and land appear to have blended with a white sheet encompassing everything. Snowflakes, droplets of fog and ice particles suspended in air enhance the effect to such an extent that sense of direction, perception of depth and balance seem to get lost. White outs occur due to a scientific phenomenon of sunlight being reflected in all directions by the snow and ice. White outs are very common in the Arctic and Antarctic during spring. The most common effect of a blizzard is a whiteout. Wintry Mixes – many a time a combination of rain and sleet is the form of precipitation seen during winter storms or snow and rain alternate with temperature ranging between -2˚C and 2˚C.Ĭoated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break during a blizzard.Sometimes, plants and infrastructure gets covered by a coat of ice and then the storm is known as ice storm. There is a presence of a warm air layer over the region but ground temperature is below freezing point and ambient temperature of around 0˚ C. Freezing rain – this is among the most dangerous type of winter storms.
Snow Storms – huge amount of snow fall creating serious snow drifts, snow piles etc leading to disruption to traffic, school transport, and normal life.Winter storms can be snow storms, freezing rain storms or wintry mixes. Ground blizzards usually occur in huge flat expanses of land where there is plenty of loose powdery snow that can be blown by high and strong winds. Ground blizzards have very strong winds which rake up the fallen snow and blow it around. Traditional blizzards occur with winds blowing falling snow in all directions while blizzards with no snow fall are called as ground blizzards. The Met Office in UK defines blizzards as medium to heavy snow with winds of 30mph and visibility of 650 feet or less.įrom all these definitions it can be inferred that strong winds, heavy snow and restricted visibility are characteristic of a blizzard. Environment Canada defines blizzard as a snow storm blowing snow with winds at 25mph, temperature of -25˚C or -15˚F and visibility of less than 500 feet lasting for over 3 hours.
Even though temperature is not taken into consideration here, it is usually below 32 ˚F or 0 ˚C. The National Weather Service of the United States define blizzard as continuous winds blowing at 35mph, leading to blowing snow causing restricted visibility of ¼ miles and lasting for a minimum of 3 hours. "Blizzard" has different definitions in different countries. A winter storm that is particularly severe and meets some criteria is called a blizzard.
Cold temperature is a must for a winter storm. These storms occur in temperate continental climates during winter, early spring and late autumn. Blizzard like conditions on I94 from Exit 140 overpass 9 miles west of Mandan in ND.Ī winter storm occurs at very cold temperatures and is characterized by variety of precipitations like snow, sleet, freezing rain, and ice formation.
0 kommentar(er)
