A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling but loose snow on the ground is lifted and blown by strong winds. Blizzards can have an immense size and usually stretch to hundreds or thousands of kilometres.
A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarctic climates, these storms are not necessarily restricted to the winter season, but may occur in the late autumn and early spring as well. A snowstorm with strong winds and low visibility is called a blizzard.
The North American blizzard of 1996 was a severe nor'easter that paralyzed the United States East Coast with up to 4 feet (1.2 m) of wind-driven snow from January 6 to January 8, 1996. The City University of New York reported that the storm "dropped 20 inches of snow, had wind gusts of 50 mph and snow drifts up to 8 feet high." This storm was a classic example of a nor'easter, but the storm would not have been as historically significant without the presence of the arctic high pressure system located to the north of New York. It was followed by another storm, an Alberta Clipper, on January 12, then unusually warm weather and torrential rain which caused rapid melting and river flooding in the Northeast Floods later that month. Along with the March Superstorm of 1993 and the January 2016 United States blizzard, it is one of only three snowstorms to receive the top rating of 5, or "Extreme", on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS).
The North American blizzard of 2006 was a nor'easter that began on the evening of February 11, 2006 and impacted much of eastern North America. It dumped heavy snow across the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, from Virginia to Maine through the early evening of February 12, and ended in Atlantic Canada on February 13. The major cities from Baltimore to Boston received at least a foot of snow, with a second-highest amount of 26.9 inches (68 cm) in New York City, the most since at least 1869, the start of record keeping, only broken by the January 2016 United States blizzard nearly 10 years later.
The Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 was a large extratropical cyclone which moved through the Eastern United States, causing blizzard conditions along the western slopes of the Appalachian Mountains and significant winds and heavy rainfall east of the mountains. Hurricane-force winds, peaking at 110 miles per hour (180 km/h) in Concord, New Hampshire, and 160 mph (260 km/h) in the highlands of New England, disrupted power to 1 million customers during the event.
The February 9–10, 2010 North American blizzard was a winter and severe weather event that afflicted the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States between February 9–11, 2010, affecting some of the same regions that had experienced a historic Nor'easter just three days earlier. The storm brought 10 to 20 inches of snow across a wide swath from Washington, D.C., to New York City, with parts of the Baltimore metro area receiving more than 20 inches (51 cm). This storm began as a classic "Alberta clipper", starting out in Canada and then moving southeast, and finally curving northeast while rapidly intensifying off the New Jersey coast, forming an eye. The National Weather Service likened this storm to a Category 1 hurricane: "Winds topped 58 mph over part of the Chesapeake Bay, and 40 mph gusts were common across the region as the storm's center deepened and drifted slowly along the mid-Atlantic coast". The storm system, in conjunction with the earlier storm, has been nicknamed "Snoverkill."
The February 25–27, 2010 North American blizzard was a winter storm and severe weather event that occurred in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States between February 24 and 26, 2010. The storm dropped its heaviest snow of 12 to 24 inches across a wide area of interior New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. The storm also brought flooding rains to coastal sections of New England, with some areas experiencing as much as 4 inches (10 cm). Aside from precipitation, the nor'easter brought hurricane-force sustained winds to coastal New England.
The December 2010 North American blizzard was a major nor'easter and historic blizzard affecting the Contiguous United States and portions of Canada from December 22–29, 2010. From January 4–15, the system was known as Windstorm Benjamin in Europe. It was the first significant winter storm of the 2010–11 North American winter storm season and the fifth North American blizzard of 2010. The storm system affected the northeast megalopolis, which includes major cities such as Norfolk, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Hartford, Providence, and Boston. It brought between 12 and 32 inches of snow in many of these areas.
The January 2015 North American blizzard was a powerful and severe blizzard that dumped up to 3 feet (910 mm) of snowfall in parts of New England. Originating from a disturbance just off the coast of the Northwestern United States on January 23, it initially produced a light swath of snow as it traveled southeastwards into the Midwest as an Alberta clipper on January 24–25. It gradually weakened as it moved eastwards towards the Atlantic Ocean, however, a new dominant low formed off the East Coast of the United States late on January 26, and rapidly deepened as it moved northeastwards towards southeastern New England, producing pronounced blizzard conditions. The nor’easter then gradually weakened as it moved away into Canada. The storm was also given unofficial names, such as Blizzard of 2015, and Winter Storm Juno.
The 2015–16 North American winter was not as frigid across North America and the United States as compared to the 2013–14 and 2014–15 winters. This was mainly due to a strong El Niño, which caused generally warmer-than-average conditions. However, despite the warmth, significant weather systems still occurred, including a snowstorm and flash flooding in Texas at the end of December and a large tornado outbreak at the end of February. The main event of the winter season, by far and large, was when a crippling and historic blizzard struck the Northeastern United States in late January, dumping up to 3 feet of snow in and around the metropolitan areas. Several other smaller snow events affected the Northeast as well, but for the most part the heaviest snowstorms and ice stayed out further west, such as a severe blizzard in western Texas in late December, and a major late-season snowstorm in Colorado in mid-April.
The January 2016 United States blizzard produced up to 3 ft (91 cm) of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States during January 22–24, 2016. A weather system, evolving from a shortwave trough that formed in the Pacific Northwest on January 19, consolidated into a defined low-pressure area on January 21 over Texas. Meteorologists indicated that a resultant storm could produce more than 2 ft (61 cm) of snow across a wide swath of the Mid-Atlantic region and could "paralyze the eastern third of the nation", and regarded it as a "potentially historic blizzard". Winter weather expert Paul Kocin described the blizzard as "kind of a top-10 snowstorm".
The January 20–22, 2014 North American blizzard was a disruptive but powerful system that affected across much of the Mid-Atlantic states and New England, bringing near-or-at blizzard conditions to many and heavy snow accumulations in late January 2014. Originating on January 19 as an Alberta clipper in Canada, the system moved east into the Ohio Valley, dropping light snowfall before moving offshore the East Coast of the United States and soon after strengthening into a powerful winter storm on January 21. The winter storm brought widespread gusty winds and snowfall totals of over 1 foot (12 in) to populated cities, before winding down and moving away from the coast the following day.
The January 31 – February 2, 2015 North American blizzard was a major winter storm that plowed through the majority of the United States, dumping as much as 2 feet (24 in) of new snowfall across a path from Iowa to New England, as well as blizzard conditions in early February 2015. It came less than a week after another crippling blizzard which impacted the Northeast with 2–3 feet of snow. It was the first of many intense winter storms to occur in the nation during the month of February, partly in due to an ongoing cold wave that was beginning to take shape shortly after the storm subsided.
The 2012–13 North American winter started out somewhat early, as the remnants of Hurricane Sandy brought heavy snow to the mountains of West Virginia in late October. Later, a strong nor'easter affected the weary Northeastern United States, hampering storm recovery efforts and dropping several inches of snow. The rest of the winter featured several other notable events, such as a Christmas winter storm that affected most of the Eastern United States, and the most notable event occurring in early February, when a powerful blizzard struck the Northeast and brought record snow to some areas. During the winter, a weak El Nino was expected to influence weather conditions across the continent.
The 2009–10 North American winter saw several major blizzards affect the Northeastern United States. It refers to winter as it occurred across the North American continent from late 2009 to early 2010. While there is no well-agreed-upon date used to indicate the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, there are two definitions of winter which may be used. Based on the astronomical definition, winter begins at the winter solstice, which in 2009 occurred on December 21, and ends at the March equinox, which in 2010 occurred on March 20. Based on the meteorological definition, the first day of winter is December 1 and the last day February 28. Both definitions involve a period of approximately three months, with some variability.
The February 9–11, 2017 North American blizzard was a fast-moving but powerful blizzard that affected the Northeastern United States with winter weather in the time span of February 8–9. Forming as an Alberta clipper in the northern United States, the system initially produced light snowfall from the Midwest to the Ohio Valley as it tracked southeastwards. It eventually reached the East Coast of the United States and began to rapidly grow into a powerful nor'easter. Up to 18 inches (46 cm) of snow as well as blizzard conditions were recorded in some of the hardest hit areas before the system moved away from the coastline early on February 10.
The March 2017 North American blizzard also known as Winter Storm Stella was a major late-season blizzard that affected the Northeastern United States, New England and Canada, dumping up to 3 feet of snow in the hardest hit areas, mainly New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and southern Quebec. Forming out of an extratropical cyclone near the Northwest, the storm system dived into the northern portions of the United States, dropping light to moderate snow across the Great Lakes, Upper Midwest on March 11–12 before reaching the Ohio Valley the next day. It later coalesced into a powerful nor'easter off the East Coast, producing a swath of heavy snowfall across a large portion of the Northeast. The storm was given various unofficial names, such as Winter Storm Stella, Blizzard Eugene, and Blizzard of 2017.
The January 2019 North American winter storm was a long-lived winter storm, forming as a large area of low pressure off the Pacific Northwest shoreline January 16, making its way to the Northeast by January 21. Its effects included heavy rain/high elevation snow and gusty winds in California, severe weather in the south, near-blizzard conditions in Upstate New York, an ice storm in New England and minor coastal flooding in the Mid-Atlantic.
The November 26 – December 3, 2019 North American blizzard was a major winter storm from the Rocky Mountains to the Northeast as well as a record-breaking windstorm along the West Coast. It occurred the week of American Thanksgiving, hampering travel for millions across the United States.
The December 15–17, 2020 nor'easter was a powerful nor'easter that hammered the Northeastern United States and produced widespread swaths of over 1 foot (12 in) of snow in much of the region from December 15–17, 2020, ending a 1,000+ day high-impact snowstorm drought in much of the Mid-Atlantic and coastal New England regions. The system developed out of a weak area of low-pressure that first developed over the Central United States producing some snowfall before moving eastward, and by December 16, a new, dominant area of low pressure began to develop along the Southeast coast. This low steadily deepened as it moved along and impacted the Mid-Atlantic coastline, prompting several winter-related advisories and warnings for much of the Northeast.
