Blizzard Essay

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A blizzard is a severe snowstorm that frequently has very cold temperatures and high winds. These two conditions form blowing snow. Did you know when a blizzard occurs it makes driving or walking extremely dangerous because the whiteout conditions make it difficult to see and do anything? According to the National Weather Service, “blizzards are vast amounts of falling snow with winds in surplus of 35 mph and visibilities of less than ¼ of a mile for a period of more than 3 hours.” Blizzards also create a wind chill effect that can be dangerous. The blowing winds and low temperatures can cause Frostbite/Hypothermia. Blizzards that occur on the East Coast of the United States are known as Nor’easters. Due to the Atlantic Ocean, the storm stalls over the coast and can sometimes last 24 hours dumping huge amounts of snow over 45 mph, temperatures at 10 degrees Fahrenheit or lower than zero visibility. I personally believe that a Nor’easter is the most dangerous type of blizzard there is! According to Weather.com, “a Ground blizzard is when there is no falling snow and snow from the ground is blown by strong winds.” Blizzards are measured by low temperatures (usually below 20 degrees Fahrenheit) and accompanied by winds that are at least 35 mph or greater. Blizzards also have sufficient falling and/or blowing snow that reduces visibility to 1/4 mile or less during at least three hours. A severe blizzard must have temperatures near or below 10 degrees Fahrenheit, winds above 45 mph, and visibility concentrated by snow to near zero. Storm systems dominant enough to cause blizzards usually form when the jet stream inclines far to the south, permitting cold air from the north to crash with temperate air from the south. Blizzard condition...

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...fshore the U.S. west coast. Its position focused on the jet stream, so that it jumped south out of the Arctic, allowing unusually cold air to flow into the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains. In the meantime, a low pressure system was developing near Brownsville, TX. Provided by numerous upper air instabilities, energy from jet stream winds, and humidity from the north central Gulf of Mexico, the low streams began to swiftly strengthen. The storm's center moved near Tallahassee, FL, in the beginning hours of March 13. The deadly storm continued north-northeastward, centering over southern Georgia near the middle of the day and over New England that evening. Near midnight, the storm extended to a central pressure of 960 mb while over the Chesapeake Bay area. According to Weather.com, “The Strom of the Century was the correspondent pressure of a Category 3 hurricane!”

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