We all know Canada isn’t called the “Great White North” for nothing. It’s a rare winter season if your day to day isn’t affected at some point whether the kids’ school is closed or your commute home takes longer than usual. Some storms, however, have an even greater impact, putting a complete halt to everyday life.
In the past century, Canadians have seen high winds, snow squalls, ice storms, and whiteouts, which are made even worse when they’re combined.
Among Canada’s worst winter storms, there’s the blizzard. Nowadays, Blizzards are one of the snow storms that stand out the most.
First of all, what is a Blizzard? It is a major snowstorm accompanied by strong winds and low visibility. These 2 features determine the severity of the storm more
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Blocked highways and rail lines, electrical-power disruption, stranded motorists and lost livestock are the predictable results of large blizzards.
On March 15, 2017 a tragic snowstorm has occurred in Montreal. Powerful winds and heavy snow have placed this storm among the greatest hits of Montreal, including March 4, 1971, March 13, 1993 and December 27, 2012.
What a storm! Heavy snow combined with very strong winds swept across southern Quebec and eastern Ontario on a Tuesday afternoon. The snow resulted in an evening commute, that was continued into the overnight. Visibility was less than 400 metres for over 5 hours, this classified this storm as an official blizzard. The snow fell in Montreal at a rate of 3-5 cm an hour between 5 and 8pm. Schools and Universities were closed during that day in Montreal, Laval, Vaudreuil and across the Townships.
Accordingly, a blizzard can cause horrible consequences which aren’t easy to deal with. In fact, a blizzard has the ability to put a city into standby, sometimes even for days. It can make driving conditions impossible and results in kids not being able to get to school as well as adults not being able to get to work. This in turn means that people become
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When a blizzard occurs, it is imperative to know the differences between watches and warnings in order to properly prepare or take the appropriate actions and stay safe. Before any sort of wintry weather, a winter storm survival kit should be kept in a secure place in case of emergency. These kits should contain everything from blankets to flashlights with extra batteries, non-perishable food, waterproof matches, a shovel and windshield scraper, a tool kit, jumper cables, a water container, road maps and flares.
If you’re at home or work, you’ll surely need a working flashlight, a charged cell phone, extra food, water and medicine. First aid supplies and a heating fuel can be very useful. If the event happens in a farm, farmers will need to move all the animals to an enclosed shelter and bring extra feed and extra water supply. But if someone is stuck inside a vehicle, he’ll certainly need a full or near full gas tank. Of course a charged cell phone is needed because after all he should let a friend or relative know about his predicted arrival
’[16] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Guterson, David, Snow Falling on Cedars, 1994, pp 367. [2] Ibid. , pp. 107.
Lake-Effect snow has a range of different intensities depending upon certain factors. The difference between the air temperature and the water temperature will determine how much moisture is taken into the air. Warmer water and colder air makes for more snow. Also the distance the air has to travel across the lake will determine how much moisture the air is able to obtain. The ability of the storm to travel inland will be determined by the intensity of the storm’s winds. Storms also are able travel farther inland in late fall and early winter.
The overall location of Montreal would lead to large transportation problems for the city. More specifically, the fact that Montreal was an island made it difficult during the fall, spring, and winter for transportation of goods, such as flour, timber, etc. The only positive aspect was that the St-Lawrence river would freeze during the winter months and therefore, this would benefit “local traffic” given they would use the “frozen surface
Fredston, J.A., and D. Fesler. 1994. Snow sense: a guide to evaluating snow avalanche hazard. Alaska Mountain Safety Center, Anchorage, AK.
First, Collins uses hyperbole by repeating the word “snow” five times in one sentence: “Chicago’s snowfall was so huge that the news media ran out of things to attach to “snow” - thundersnow! snowpocalypse! snowmageddon!” (Collins). She consecutively uses three portmanteaus of the word "snow" with increasing stress level to create strong feelings. She wants to emphasize that Chicago is experiencing the most massive snowstorm in the United States, one of the consequences of global warming. This is a circumstance that causes people panic. She then reminds the readers about the blizzard of 1979 which made Mayor Michael Bilandic get “kicked out of office six weeks later in the Democratic primary.” It seems that she wants to make a connection between the congressman and a snow job.
Blizzards are severe snowstorms in which the following conditions continue for 3 hours or longer; Sustained
Harris, Richard. "Dust Storms Threaten Snow Packs." NPR : National Public Radio. Public Broadcasting Service, 30 May 2006. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.
One of the most significant reasons is, in some places plans might interfere with snow make up days. The first reason is some people go away for the whole summer. For example, if they were to cancel their plans it would cause major inconveniences. Second, some people book their vacations months even years in advance. For example, for Disney Cruise Lines they require you to book a year in advance in order to reserve the perfect getaway. This would be a large obstacle if their children were in school. Third, this causes families to lose money. The people who have to cancel their plans will only get compensated the partial amount or nothing at all of what they paid. For example, if they booked a trip on Disney Cruise Lines they would only get compensated a partial amount that they paid and the deposit they paid they do not get back. Interfering with people’s plans is a significant consequence, and the length of summer vacation is too.
January 12, 1888, a blizzard covered the northwest part of North America that claimed many lives. This blizzard was considered to be the worst blizzard of all time, and was dubbed the “the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard”, for claiming the lives of so many school children on their way home. The death toll of this murderous blizzard rose, because of lack of preparation and being uninformed. During this time, many farmers and families were unprepared to survive a blizzard of this magnitude, by the lack of clothing they wore. Forecasters were not as accurate enough to inform people on the weather conditions. Also, shelter was a major factor in protecting themselves from the winter storms, but the shelter was not stable
(6) The suddenness of the winter storm caught people by surprise. A roar “like an approaching train” was all the warning the storm gave. (130) The roaring wind and snow brought darkness and dropping temperatures. The people who were inside when the blizzard struck faced a dilemma. Staying inside and doing nothing seemed “heartless,” but going into the storm “on a rescue mission was likely to be fatal to the rescuer and useless to the lost.” (143) The people who were unfortunate enough to be away from home, whether they were at school or working with their livestock, had to make a difficult decision. They could either risk trying to make it home or chance it out and stay where they were. Schoolteachers had to decide whether to send the children home or keep them at the school. If anyone ventured outside, he or she risked frostbite, hypothermia, and likely
Typically impacting a small area, one location could see in excess of a foot of snow where a few miles away, could be only seeing flurries. LES (Lake Effect Snow) can come quickly and produce conditions that are very hazardous for traveling. Things like this as well as other impacts are important to note and as forecasters, try to inform the public to be prepared for an event like this. To understand the whole idea of lake effect snow, one must travel to the past where this phenomenon was first discovered and from there; move forward in time to see the progress that has been made not only in understanding this, but also forecasting it as well.
Blizzards can bring whiteout conditions, and can paralyze regions for days at a time, particularly where snowfall is unusual or rare. A severe blizzard has winds over, near zero visibility, and temperatures of or lower. In Antarctica, blizzards are associated with winds spilling over the edge of the ice plateau at an average velocity of. The Oxford English Dictionary concludes the term blizzard is likely onomatopoeic, derived from the same sense as blow, blast, blister, and bluster; the first recorded use of it for weather dates to 1829, when it was defined as a "violent blow".
Once the storm arrives, stay inside and away from walls and windows that could collapse or be blown away. If it is during the night, have a flashlight near-by so that you can find your way around in case of a power failure. Don’t use the telephone either unless it’s absolutely necessary. Many people may be trying to make emergency calls and the phone lines may be knocked down in some areas.
The snow that was predicted to be several inches by the end of the weekend quickly piled up to around eight inches by that evening. At times, the snow was falling so heavily you could hardly see the streetlights that glistened like beacons in a sea of snow. With the landscape draped in white, the trees hangi...
This lack of preparation takes place in different places and involves different hazards. In the case of hurricane, only half of all respondents living in Central Florida have hurricane evacuation plan in place (Kapucu, 2008). Another finding revealed that only 8 percent of all respondent have prepared a disaster supplies kit in home. Kenny (2009) found that most residents in South Florida, hurricane-prone area, failed to take preparatory measures such as securing bottled water and food when storms strike. In another place and a different hazard, the result of study demonstrated the same finding. Paton and Prior (2008) studied bushfire preparation in Tasmania show that most respondents had undertaken some form of protective behavior only minimal and limited. They started to prepare after they were warned by disaster emergency services.