Are you from Antactica? I think the antarctic Circle is the only place on the planet that has the weather conditions you describe.
Most places in the US have never had more than 5 blizzards in the past 100 years. Perhaps you could name one?
Very interesting reply. I’m from North Dakota, and live 9 miles south of the Canadian border.
We don’t name blizzards up here. When this started most folks up here chuckled.
I can think of several that are very memorable. But typically we have a minimum of two, maybe as many as 20 or so per year.
Here are the most memorable:
The year was late 90’s. An Alberta Clipper produced winds of 60 MPH for about 3 days. You could not see more than about 20 feet. Actual temps were around zero.
In the mid 70’s or so I came home on leave and we had a “snirt” storm. This is an Alberta Clipper so strong it loosens topsoil, this fine powdered dirt mixes with the snow. The result was snow drifts so hard you could drive a pickup on top of it.
We have USAF ICBM missile bases up here, they are very secure facilities. In one of our storms of the 90’s the drifts covered the security fence on a base. A stranded motorist started walking when the storm was over, walked right over the top of the fence and went inside to ask for help.
In the mid 2000’s there were stranded motorists with no supplies. I led the rescue with a loader. With deep snows and limited visibility, you literally cannot see where the road is. The technique is to just go slowly, when you feel the vehicle lean to the right, you know you are about to enter the right ditch. When the vehicle leans left, it’s heading for the left ditch. It’s real basic stuff.
The same situation happened a couple years ago. We needed a loaf of bread and just wanted to get out. There were no tracks on the road, nothing to give an idea where the road was. So you just go and guess at it.
In the 70’s a man worked at a welding shop, he went to a warehouse to get supplies, that was about 70 feet from the shop. He got lost and froze to death because visibility was at zero. My mom told similar stories whens she was growing up. They tied a rope from the house to the barn to keep from getting lost.
My best story is when I worked on a B52 AFB where the planes were loaded with nukes. I was called into work. Yes, back then storm days were very rare. I had a friend with me, we got on base OK, but could not find our shop. While driving we tried to stay on the road by occasionally seeing buildings or road signs. Finally the storm was so bad we had to just stop. The storm let up, and found ourselves parked by a loaded B52 on the flight line.
While driving in a blizzard snow will get past the radiator, land on the engine, melt, drip down, and refreeze on the suspension. This occasionally makes the vehicle impossible to steer.
I could just go on and on. When ever I hear of a named blizzard or panic, I just laugh.
So why do people live up here? 40 below keeps out rif raf. When the SHTF, it will be one of the safest places. Siberia is Russia’s last line of defense, just ask the Germans.
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Buffalo, UP of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho. Probably missed a few.