9781422269527

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