9781422269527

FACING THE WEATHER

FACING THE WEATHER

BLIZZARDS EARTHQUAKES FLOODS HURRICANES TORNADOES

FACING THE WEATHER

KIMBERLY SPROUSE

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Copyright © 2024 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4861-4 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4862-1 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-6952-7

Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress

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Chapter 1: What Makes a Blizzard..........................................................7 Chapter 2: Interesting Facts about Blizzards........................................23 Chapter 3: Greatest Blizzards of All Time.............................................37 Chapter 4: Monitoring a Blizzard..........................................................47 Chapter 5: Staying Safe in a Blizzard....................................................59 Series Glossary of Key Terms...............................................................72 Further Reading and Internet Resources..............................................74 Organizations to Contact......................................................................76 Index....................................................................................................77 Author’s Biography and Photo Credits..................................................80

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills.

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more!

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

amputation: surgical removal of a limb dehydration: lack of proper body hydration caused by not drinking enough fluid or by losing more fluid than you take in frostbite: injury to your body caused by exposure to extreme cold; usually affects the extremities such as the hands, feet, ears, nose, and lips hypothermia: having an abnormally and dangerously low body temperature whiteout: heavy snowfall making it difficult to see anything around you

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CHAPTER

WHAT MAKES A BLIZZARD Many people enjoy watching the snow fall; it creates an eerie silence that would be hard to understand if you’ve never experienced soft falling snow. This eerie quiet creates a peaceful surrounding that brings comfort to the human soul. Snowstorms usually surround us in silence, but sometimes have mild winds, ranging from about 20 to 30 mph (32.2 to 48.3 kilometers per hour), and typically only drop a few inches of snow. While snowstorms can be peaceful, blizzards are brutal storms that are far from comforting. A blizzard is a severe snowstorm involving cold winds under 32°F (0°C) (but often substantially lower). These storms have sustained winds over 35 mph (56 kph) for a minimum of three hours and can continue for days. A blizzard can drop anywhere from several inches to many feet of snow, causing a whiteout if the snowfall gets too heavy. In a blizzard, people cannot see within a quarter of a mile in any direction, which makes going outside and driving very

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Softly falling snow is beautiful and peaceful. Do you live in a place that gets snow?

difficult and dangerous. Blizzards can often bring bitterly cold temperatures, strong winds, ice, freezing rain, and slush. There are three necessary conditions required for a blizzard to form—below-freezing air temperature, moisture, and a collision of cold air and warm rising air. First, the air in the clouds and on the ground must be below freezing temperature for snow to form and not melt when it hits the ground.

WEATHER WONDER

The most important factor of a blizzard is not the amount of snow, but the strength of the wind. Blizzards must have strong winds of 35 mph (56 kph) or higher that result in low visibility in all directions.

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Facing the Weather: Blizzards

Next, there must be moisture to form clouds and precipitation. Lastly, the cold air from the north must mix with warm rising air from the south. Once the warm air rises over the cold air, a blizzard forms. The mixture of cold and warm air can happen in one of two ways: (1) the wind pulls warm air from the equator and cold air from the north, or (2) warm air rises up a mountainside and rests on top of the cold mountain air. Where Do Blizzards Occur? Blizzards are common in various places in the world. Russia, central and northeastern Asia, northern Europe, Canada, tropical mountains, the northern United States, and Antarctica all get blizzards. The majority of blizzards occur between December and February. From 1960 to 1994, the United States encountered about nine blizzards a year, but since 1995, the US has been encountering approximately 19 blizzards a year.

Siberia is one of the coldest regions on Earth. Russia is one of the places where blizzards most often occur.

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What Makes a Blizzard

Siberia has a village named Oymyakon, thought to be the coldest human settlement in the world. The area experiences frequent blizzards with extremely cold temperatures and very high winds.

Map data ©2023 Google, TMap Mobility 500 km The US experiences blizzards in the Upper Midwest and the Great Plains, but blizzards can occur in most areas of the country, except the Gulf of Mexico and California coasts. Most blizzards occur in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains because the high winds and flat terrain provide ideal conditions. Any geographical area that has snowfall can have a blizzard, but Central Canada and the Midwestern United States are known as “blizzard country” because this area gets hit with the biggest and most dangerous blizzards. Siberia, Russia, is one of the coldest places on Earth. In the Russian region of Yakutia, there is a village named Oymyakon, thought to be the coldest human settlement in the world. The area experiences frequent blizzards with wind speeds that can reach 96 mph (154.5 kph) and temperatures that can drop to

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19/05/23, 21:06

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Facing the Weather: Blizzards

-76 degrees F (-60 degrees C). It is so cold in the village that bonfires must be lit to heat the ground before graves can be dug. Ironically, the name Oymyakon means “unfrozen water.” China has a long history of blizzards, and one of the worst storms hit in 2008. The blizzard lasted nearly two weeks and led to the deaths of nearly 130 people. The worst winter in China’s Taklamakan region in over 20 years occurred in 2008. The blizzard extensively damaged the country’s electricity grid and also destroyed millions of livestock and crops. Canada experiences blizzards in the Prairies, eastern Arctic, and eastern Ontario, and has been known to get significant snowfall within a 24-hour period. In 1971, the city of Montreal received 18.5 inches of snow from a blizzard that lasted over

China has frequent blizzards. The Great Wall of China is pictured here, covered in snow. This reflects only a small part of the wall, which stretches over 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers).

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What Makes a Blizzard

Various regions of Canada experience blizzards, like this area in Vancouver, British Columbia.

three days; 16.9 inches of that snow fell in 24 hours. That 24 hour record was later beat by a 2012 storm in eastern Quebec when the region received 31.5 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. The storm in Quebec also killed 17 residents and left many others injured. Snowstorms can even occur on the highest peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii (“mauna” means “mount”). With elevations above 13,000 feet, snowstorms can occur at the top of these mountains when the winds shift from the northeast to the southwest and gather moisture from the tropical Pacific Ocean. Due to the presence of the mountains, the moisture is forced to go up, creating heavy rain and snow. The winter of 2004–2005 brought 35 to 55 inches (89 to 140 cm) of snow, and the winter of 2005–2006 brought 40 to 75 inches (101.6 to 190.5 cm) of snow. Even though nobody lives on the top of Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa, once the snow melts, it brings heavy flooding to the residents who live at the bases of the mountains.

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Facing the Weather: Blizzards

Yes, it can snow in Hawaii! Look at the amazing snow at Mauna Kea Observatory, which is located at an elevation of 13,796 feet (4,205 meters) on the big island of Hawaii.

It is no surprise that the coldest place on Earth gets severe blizzards. Even though Antarctica is considered a desert due to the little amount of precipitation it gets each year, blizzards occur there over half the year. Due to the consistently cold temperatures, when it does snow or rain, it just freezes, explaining why the continent is covered by a permanent sheet of ice. The blizzards occur when wind gusts that can reach up to 120 mph (193 kph) blow around already fallen and loose snow.

Watch this clip of a blizzard that occurred in Buffalo, New York.

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What Makes a Blizzard

Antarctica, covered by a thick sheet of ice, is the coldest place on Earth. Even though Antarctica is a desert, blizzards occur more than half the year.

Antarctica, with no consistent human habitation and subzero temperatures, has winds cold enough to instantly freeze your skin and air so dry it would make your body lose water every time you took a breath.

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Facing the Weather: Blizzards

Types of Blizzards There are three types of blizzards: ground blizzards, nor’easters, and lake effect blizzards. Ground blizzards have a significant impact on travel and daily life because they produce strong winds that blow around already fallen loose snow, reducing visibility. The snow can blow in different patterns depending on which of the three types of ground blizzards is occurring—vertical advection, horizontal advection, or thermal-mechanical. Vertical advection ground blizzards occur when air is lifted up to create a wave of snow that can reach heights of hundreds of feet off the ground. Horizontal advection occurs when the wind blows a wall of snow sideways but not as high off the ground as vertical advection. The last ground blizzard is the thermal-mechanical ground blizzard which is a mixture of vertical and horizontal advection and is the rarest of the three ground blizzards.

WEATHER WONDER

The Great Blizzard of 1978, also known as the Cleveland Superbomb, was the worst blizzard the Midwest US has ever experienced. The wind gusts were up to 100 mph with some snowdrifts reaching 25 feet high.

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What Makes a Blizzard

Of the three types of blizzards, ground blizzards significantly impact people. The strong winds and reduced visibility can affect all types of travel.

The majority of blizzards are nor'easters blizzards, storms that gather moisture from the Atlantic Ocean as they travel up the east coast of the United States. These storms spin counterclockwise and cause significant flooding by bringing heavy rain or snow anywhere from Delaware to Maine. Lake effect blizzards are rare and typically start in Canada or across the Great Lakes, and occur when cold air picks up moisture as it moves over a large body of water. The mixture of the cold air and moisture produces heavy snowfall in a short amount of time. Effects of Blizzards The type of blizzard a geographical area receives can have a huge impact on that area, depending on the severity of the storm and how many people live there. Blizzards typically cause

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Facing the Weather: Blizzards