A blizzard needs heavy snow plus strong sustained winds, not flakes alone
Meteorologists reserve “blizzard” for storms that combine falling or blowing snow with strong sustained winds and very low visibility — often for hours — not every heavy snowfall.
Wind lifts loose snow into whiteouts that erase roads and horizons even when new flakes are modest. Cold air deepens the danger by freezing exposed skin and icing power lines.
The word warns about travel, not just totals. A quiet dump of snow can be shoveled; a true blizzard can strand drivers inside a moving wall of white.
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