Editing Blizzard (section)

==Historic events==

===1972 Iran blizzard===
The [[1972 Iran blizzard]], which caused 4,000 reported deaths, was the deadliest blizzard in recorded history. Dropping as much as {{convert|26|feet|meters}} of snow, it completely covered 200 villages. After a snowfall lasting nearly a week, an area the size of [[Wisconsin]] was entirely buried in snow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/29930/40-years-ago-iran-was-hit-deadliest-blizzard-history|title=40 Years Ago, Iran Was Hit by the Deadliest Blizzard in History|date=7 February 2012|access-date=11 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skyandweather.net/2014/02/1972Iransnowstorm.html|title=بوران ۱۳۵۰: شدیدترین بوران تاریخ معاصر ایران و جهان|website=www.skyandweather.net|access-date=11 May 2018}}</ref>

===2008 Afghanistan blizzard===
The [[2008 Afghanistan blizzard]], was a fierce blizzard that struck [[Afghanistan]] on 10 January 2008. Temperatures fell to a low of {{convert|-30|C}}, with up to {{convert|180|cm}} of snow in the more mountainous regions, killing at least 926 people. The weather also claimed more than 100,000 sheep and goats, and nearly 315,000 cattle died.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bitter-winter-a-killer-in-afghanistan-1.748144 |title=Bitter winter a killer in Afghanistan |access-date=2009-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612133125/http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/02/10/winter-afghanistan.html |archive-date=2008-06-12 |url-status=live |work=CBC News |date=2008-02-10 }}</ref>

===The Snow Winter of 1880–1881===
{{Main|Hard Winter of 1880-81}}

[[File:Train stuck in snow.jpg|thumb|left|A snow blockade in southern Minnesota, central US. On March 29, 1881, snowdrifts in Minnesota were higher than locomotives.]]

The winter of 1880–1881 is widely considered the most severe winter ever known in many parts of the United States. 

The initial blizzard in October 1880 brought snowfalls so deep that two-story homes experienced ''accumulations'', as opposed to drifts, up to their second-floor windows. No one was prepared for deep snow so early in the winter. Farmers from North Dakota to Virginia were caught flat with fields unharvested, what grain that had been harvested unmilled, and their suddenly all-important winter stocks of wood fuel only partially collected. By January train service was almost entirely suspended from the region. Railroads hired scores of men to dig out the tracks but as soon as they had finished shoveling a stretch of line a new storm arrived, burying it again.

[[File:Blasting ice with dynamite from in front of steamer on the ways, by Stanley J. Morrow.png|right|thumb|263x263px|[[Stereoscope|Stereoscopic]] view card showing "Blasting ice with dynamite from in front of steamer on the ways, by Stanley J. Morrow" ~  A view of Yankton's riverfront after the flood of March 1881.]] 
There were no winter thaws and on February 2, 1881, a second massive blizzard struck that lasted for nine days. In towns the streets were filled with solid drifts to the tops of the buildings and tunneling was necessary to move about. Homes and barns were completely covered, compelling farmers to construct fragile tunnels in order to feed their stock.

When the snow finally melted in late spring of 1881, huge sections of the plains experienced flooding. Massive ice jams clogged the [[Missouri River]], and when they broke the downstream areas were inundated. Most of the town of [[Yankton, South Dakota|Yankton]], in what is now South Dakota, was washed away when the river overflowed its banks after the thaw.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/little-town-in-nara-2.html|title=Prologue|date=8 March 2012|work=archives.gov}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/history/robinson/liii.txt|title=Chapter LIII: Dakota Territory History – 1880–1881|work=History of South Dakota|author=Doane Robinson|volume=1|date=1904|pages=306–309}}</ref>

==== Novelization ====
Many children—and their parents—learned of "The Snow Winter" through the children's book ''[[The Long Winter (novel)|The Long Winter]]'' by [[Laura Ingalls Wilder]], in which the author tells of her family's efforts to survive. The snow arrived in October 1880 and blizzard followed blizzard throughout the winter and into March 1881, leaving many areas snowbound throughout the winter. Accurate details in Wilder's novel include the blizzards' frequency and the deep cold, the [[Chicago and North Western Railway]] stopping trains until the spring thaw because the snow made the tracks impassable, the near-starvation of the townspeople, and the courage of her future husband Almanzo and another man, Cap Garland, who ventured out on the open prairie in search of a cache of wheat that no one was even sure existed.

===The Storm of the Century===
[[File:1993 Storm of the Century Asheville, North Carolina snowfall.jpg|thumb|Under the weight of snow, a tree falls next to a car in [[Asheville, North Carolina]]]]

The [[1993 Storm of the Century|Storm of the Century]], also known as the Great Blizzard of 1993, was a large [[cyclone|cyclonic]] storm that formed over the [[Gulf of Mexico]] on March 12, 1993, and dissipated in the North Atlantic Ocean on March 15. It is unique for its intensity, massive size and wide-reaching effect. At its height, the storm stretched from Canada towards Central America, but its main impact was on the United States and Cuba. The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the Eastern United States before moving into Canada. Areas as far south as northern Alabama and Georgia received a dusting of snow and areas such as [[Birmingham, Alabama]], received up to {{convert|12|in|cm|abbr=on}} <ref name="ncdc-event-details">{{cite web | title = Event Details | author = National Climatic Data Center | author-link = National Climatic Data Center | url = http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~194933 | access-date = December 22, 2010 | year = 1993 | publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090416060920/http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~194933 | archive-date = April 16, 2009 | url-status = dead }}</ref> with [[Wind#Wind force scale|hurricane-force]] wind gusts and record low [[barometric pressure]]s. Between Louisiana and Cuba, hurricane-force winds produced high storm surges across northwestern Florida, which along with scattered [[tornado]]es killed dozens of people. In the United States, the storm was responsible for the loss of [[electricity|electric power]] to over 10&nbsp;million customers. It is purported to have been directly experienced by nearly 40&nbsp;percent of the country's population at that time. A total of 310 people, including 10 from Cuba, perished during this storm. The storm cost $6 to $10 billion in damages.