Info on Blizzards
I chose to study blizzards for my catastrophic event. I chose this event because I'm really interested in how blizzards effect our environment and our daily lives after it occurs. Blizzards occur when heavy snow and fast winds combine for three hours or longer and the snow causes visibility to reduce to 1/4th of a mile. Blizzards occur during the wintertime, in December through March.
Blizzards affect as large as a coastal zone. A good example of a coastal wide blizzard would be the blizzard that occurred in the Northeast (which is where blizzards happen the most) in the beginning of February 2013.
Statistics say that in the US, blizzards occur 11 times per year. It takes at least a day or two before people know when a blizzard happens. This is called a winter storm watch. There are other warnings like the winter storm warning, where you must stay indoors as soon as you can within a couple of hours. There is also the blizzard warning, where you must seek refuge immediately.