Blizzards

The Great Blizzard of March 12, 1888. New York, New York. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection.) Larger version (43k).

Snow shovelers in Flushing, New York, during the Great Blizzard of March 12, 1888. New York, New York. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection.) Larger version (32k).

Photograph of a horse drawn sleigh taken on March 18, 1888, during the Great Blizzard. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection.) Larger version (36k).

Cleared train tracks in the Sierra Nevada at Blue Canyon, California, after a snow storm in 1917. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection. Photograph originally published in "Monthly Weather Review," October 1919, p. 698.) Larger version (36k).

Cleared train tracks in the Sierra Nevada at Emigrant Gap, California, after a snow storm in 1917. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection. Photograph originally published in "Monthly Weather Review," October 1919, p. 698.) Larger version (36k).

Paradise Inn, Mount Rainier, Washington. During the winter of 1916-1917, 789.5 inches of snow fell at Paradise Inn. When this photo was taken, in March 1917, the snow was 27 feet deep. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of Historic National Weather Service Collection. Photograph originally published in "Monthly Weather Review," July 1918, p. 330.) Larger version (35k).

An ice storm in Rhode Island, December 1, 1921. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection. Photograph originally published in "The Realm of the Air" by Charles F. Talman, 1931.) Larger version (46k).

A young steer after a blizzard, March 4, 1966. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection.) Larger version (35k).

A man stands near a utility pole in North Dakota, March 9, 1966. A spring blizzard produced snow so deep that it nearly buried the utility poles. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection.) Larger version (33k).

An aerial view of an expressway in Chicago, paralyzed after a blizzard, January 26-27, 1967. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historical National Weather Service Collection.) Larger version (44k).

Even states in the southern part of the United States can get significant amounts of snow. This photo was taken in Bull Shoals, Arkansas, after the Blizzard of '93. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection. Photograph by Elizabeth A. Hobbs.) Larger version (40k).

Power lines sag after a heavy ice storm. No date. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of the Historic National Weather Service Collection.) Larger version (35k).

Snow Phenomena and Formations

Cold air and steam from low grade geothermal springs make heavy frost on the trees in this photograph taken at the Spring Inn resort in Pagosa Springs, Colorado on February 1, 1998. A travertine (layered calcium carbonate) cone deposit is on the right. (Courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy. Photograph by Warren Gretz.) Larger version (33k).

Sastrugi at South Pole Station, Antarctica. Sastrugi, or wind sculpted snow, are ridges formed when wind erodes and drifts the snow. No date. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of Mr. Fred Walton, NOAA Corps Collection.) Larger version (33k).

Sastrugi at South Pole Station, Antarctica. Sastrugi, or wind sculpted snow, are ridges formed when wind erodes and drifts the snow. No date. (Source: NOAA/Department of Commerce. Courtesy of Mr. Fred Walton, NOAA Corps Collection.) Larger version (33k).

Sastrugi snow formation in Colorado. Sastrugi are ridges of snow formed when wind erodes and drifts the snow. (Photograph courtesy of Ken Knowles, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder.) Larger version (30k).

Extensive snow dunes wrinkle the surface of large parts of East and West Antarctica. The dunes are up to 100 kilometers long and separated by 2 to 4 kilometers, but the height is only a few meters. Comparison of modern satellite images with pictures acquired four decades earlier shows that the dunes are nearly motionless. The dunes are unique in that they appear not to be formed by normal wind depositon, but rather by ablation due to wave patterns set up in katabatic winds. The linear pattern is due to backscatter variations associated with grain-size changes across dunes. Larger version (38k).

Heavy winds and blowing snow wreak havoc on traffic and roads. A truck with a snow plow attachment clears a road in this photograph from November 10, 1998. (Courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy. Photograph by David Parsons.) Larger version (32k).

A district heating system keeps a sidewalk dry after a snowfall, unlike the sidewalk beyond, which is not heated by the system. In Klamath Falls, Oregon, a geothermal district heating system keeps the sidewalks clear and dry at the Basin Transit station after a snowfall. The trees are protected with Styrofoam insulation to keep them from budding in the winter during system operation. The district heating system melts snow on more than 50,000 square feet of sidewalks and crosswalks. Snowmelt tubing in slurry was installed under the sidewalks in 1995 as part of the city's district heating system, which was constructed in 1981 to heat 14 government buildings, including the county museum, fire station, post office, city hall, library, courthouse, and jail. The system has now expanded to include non-government buildings, such as churches and small businesses, for a total of around 26 buildings. No date. (Courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy. Photograph by the Geo-Heat Center.) Larger version (35k).

Avalanche related photographs

An avalanche in motion. (Photograph courtesy of Richard Armstrong, National Snow and Ice Data Center.) Larger version (30k).

The three parts of an avalanche path: starting zone, track, and runout zone. (Photograph courtesy of Betsy Armstrong.) Larger version (37k).

A new layer of surface hoar on the snow. Note the quarter for scale. (Photograph courtesy of K. Williams.) Larger version (33k).

Wind scouring snow off of the windward side of the peak and depositing it on the leeward side. (Photograph courtesy of Richard Armstrong.) Larger version (28k).