Snowfall Types
Snow events range in intensity. Snow flurries represent the lowest level. They range from barely perceptible light to frozen drizzle to short periods of puffy, cotton-ball-sized flakes drifting gently to the ground. They rarely result in accumulations beyond a light coating on grass or metal surfaces. Snow showers represent the winter analog to summer rain showers. While their snow rate intensity varies from light to whiteout conditions, their duration is relatively short. Snowstorms are prolonged periods of precipitation that may vary in intensity, with snow falling throughout their duration.
Blizzard Definition
While many think of blizzards as the heaviest type of snowfall, that’s not necessarily true. Strictly speaking, a blizzard requires sustained winds or gusts of 35+ mph (16 m/s) and enough snow to reduce visibility to below a quarter mile (.4 km). Typically, blizzards include falling snow, but the visibility requirement can also be met by blowing snow. The latter is relatively common in the upper plains of the US Midwest.
Snowfall Intensity Definition
Most of us conflate snowfall intensity with snow accumulation. While the two are frequently correlated, their definitions are a bit more complicated. Snowfall intensity is technically described by visibility. Light equates to visibility greater than .6 miles (1 km), moderate to .3 to .6 miles (1/2 to 1 km), and heavy to less than .3 miles (.5 km). By this definition, a snow shower or even a flurry with big enough snowflakes may qualify as moderate or heavy snow even if there’s little or no accumulation. To confuse matters, official weather bulletins often include snowfall rates in their warnings for dangerous snow events. To summarize, the definitions may be confusing, but you know heavy snow when you see it.
Snow Accumulation Records
In 1998-9, the Mt. Baker Ski Area near Bellingham, WA, measured 95.01 feet (2896 cm) of snow. Sukayu Onsen in Japan is the snowiest inhabited place on earth. Since 1981, it has averaged 57.87 feet (1764 cm) of snow per year. The world’s three snowiest large cities (>100K), Aomori (25.98 feet or 792 cm), Sapporo (19.91 feet or 485 cm), and Toyama (11.91 feet or 363 cm) are in Japan. The next snowiest are St. John’s (10.89 feet or 332 cm) in Newfoundland and Syracuse, NY (10.66 feet or 325 cm).
Our Featured Map
How much snow can you expect to get? Fortunately, we have a map for that courtesy of MapPorn.
As always, thanks for reading.
Armen
Note to pay the bills
Snow features prominently in conclusive scene of Penny Preston and the Raven’s Talisman, book #1 in the Misaligned series. If you’re interested in a PG-rated story that seeks to answer the question, ‘What happens at the intersection of String Theory & Arthurian Myth’, check out a summary of the series here or find links to purchase books here.
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