What Is A Blizzard

Blizzard vs Winter Storm?

I came across this question at wiseGEEK.
Via the Twitter feed.

What are Blizzards?
Mentions 3 factors wind, visibility, and temp.

What do I think of when I hear the word, "blizzard"?

In a word: visibility.



There can be snow, wind, cold, but visibility is still okay, so it's not a blizzard.
A blizzard is when I look out the window and can't see the barn.
Or when I can't see past the trees, I know it's bad news.

I checked another source, weather.com.

Blizzards are characterized by low temperatures (usually below 20 deg F) and accompanied by winds that are at least 35 mph or greater, there must also be sufficient falling and/or blowing snow in the air that will frequently reduce visibility to 1/4 mile or less for a duration of at least 3 hours.

A severe blizzard is considered to have temperatures near or below 10 deg F, winds exceeding 45 mph, and visibility reduced by snow to near zero.

Image Creation Notes:
ULead Particle (snow), Wind Effect, IglooLaser Font, Layer Blends