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Blizzards By Grace
World Book: B-2 (what is a blizzard) • Blizzard is a blinding snowstorm with strong, cold winds. A blizzard happens when a clod air mass moves out of the Arctic into the Temperate Zone. The advancing heavy, cold air forces the warmer, moist air to rise along the boundary between the two air masses. The boundary is a cold front. The rising action produces a heavy snowstorm, which is accompanied by cold north winds. Many blizzards follow a period of unusually warm weather in the winter.
Different types of blizzards • Ice storm: supercooled droplets can fall without forming snowflakes, freezing instantly on contact with cold surfaces. The weight of ice that builds up that can bring down telephone poles. • Snowstorm: When a snowstorm’s winds reach 39mph, it is called a blizzard. Blizzards are common in big continents, like North America
Words • Supercooled droplets: droplets of water which can exist as water below freezing.
How blizzards are measured • A blizzard is measured by how fast the winds are. The wind only qualifies as a blizzard if the winds are at least 35MPH. Anything over that, with snow is a blizzard.
Where blizzards are common World Book B-2 • Blizzards are common most frequently in the northern Great Plains of the US, in eastern and central Canada, and in various parts of Russia. They may pile up huge snowdrifts that completely disrupt daily life. Sometimes all transportation stops and businesses close up for many days.
Weather: Nature in Motion: What Makes a Snowstorm? • Most large snowstorms begin when the jet stream pushes cold Arctic air south from Canada. When the cold air collides with warmer air masses, the warm air rises and cools, forming clouds that produce snow.
How often blizzards occur • During 1996 and 1997, there were a total of 27 blizzards while in 1980 to 1981, there was an amazing low of only one blizzard. Predicting a blizzard can be tricky because they can be unexpected. You can have a bunch of blizzards on one year, and only three in the following year.
Worst conditions • If worst comes to worst, people can get trapped in their homes, become blinded by the wind from the blizzard, get stuck in their cars, loss of plant life, loss of animals, and severe windburn.
After effects • What happens after can result in other disasters: Floods, roofs collapsing, food shortage, and power outages.
Resources Used • LeMone, Margaret A. “Blizzard” World Book Vol. 2. Chicago: World Book, 2007 • Van Biema, David Allis, Sam. "The Blizzard Of '96." Time 147.4 (1996): 18. Middle Search Plus. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=bcc0b3df-81cb-4b6b-951a-42bab2df5b13%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=mih&AN=9601167672 • FEMA: http://www.ready.gov/winter-weather
Resources used • http://www.co2science.org/articles/V5/N38/C2.php • WEATHER: Nature in Motion By Anne Ohman City of Publication: Washington D.C: National Geographic, Summer 2007 • http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/unusual/unusual.htm • Storms And Hurricanes By Kathy Gemmell: New York: Scholastic Inc. September 1996 • http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_K9rpb95CZ0k/TUg04yRKyoI/AAAAAAAAAJU/qLGKK9Urwaw/s1600/blizzard.jpg
Resources used • http://www.cnbc.com/id/41380346/Scenes_from_Australia_Cyclone • http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7307622n