Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamsack
As a weather forecaster in Grand Forks....I fail to understand why the temperature is important for a storm to be a blizzard. If you cant see in front of you if driving or can't see if you get stranded....you are in danger regardless of the temperature. As someone involved in verification we do use public reports as well as automated stations in the entire verification process.
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Except maybe in Grand Forks (where it's just another winter day) low temps + high winds are a bigee to most people. The former definition requiring temps under 20 degrees was made up by the NWS, not me. But I suspect in order to get the word "blizzard" out there more often (to sell more advertising and strip food shelves in grocery stores more frequently) they changed the definition to now include in "blizzard warning" what used to be "heavy snow warning" or "winter storm warning". I'm going back 45 + years here.
You'll die or get frostbite way quicker in a 40 mph wind and 18 degrees than you will with 40 mph wind and 28 degrees.