Blizzard of 1996.ppt

Blizzard of 1996 Amanda Crook Linguistics What is a blizzard? Northeastern United States, the Northern Great Plains in the United States, Atlantic Canada, and the Canadian Prairie Provinces Severe winter storm characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow NWS says winds of 35+mph, visibility of ? mile or less for at least 3 hours. Continued… Created when a high pressure system interacts with a low pressure system this results in the advection of air from the high pressure zone into the low pressure area Definitions… Snow Drifts- hill or mound of snow created by the wind during a snow storm White Out- falling snow combined with already fallen snow makes it impossible to distinguish ground from sky Ground Blizzard- no snow falling, but high winds blow snow; this gives appearance and conditions of a blizzard White-outs North American Blizzard of 1996 Formed January 4 Dissipated January 10 Max snowfall was 48” Covered and paralyzed Northeast Coast All-time greatest blizzard for Philadelphia Jan. 11, Federal Government reopened for the first time in nearly a month Aftermath 154 fatalities Damage not only from storm, but from flooding also 33 additional deaths due to flooding Over $1 billion in damages Prepare… Shovel Salt Staple foods Water Blanket Flashlight Batteries Heat source (i.e. firewood if you have a fireplace) Sources /C0126189/blizzard_formation.htm /plolstore/plsql/dspecific?prodnum=C00495-PUB-A0001#96JAN * * In North America, Blizzards are most common to the Northeastern United States, the Northern Great Plains in the United States, Atlantic Canada, and the Canadian Prairie Provinces. Blizzards are severe winter storms characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow More specifically, the US, the National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a winter snowstorm with winds of 35 mph, visibility of ? mile or less with these conditions lasting 3 hours or more. In the US the temperature during these st