Geometric snowflake forever postage stamp-booklet of 20

Flurries, squalls, snowstorms, nor’easters, snow bursts... all can drop significant amounts of white fluffy precipitation from the sky, but none are blizzards by definition.

To qualify as a blizzard, winds of at least 35 miles per hour must accompany snow falling for at least three straight hours with visibility decreased to under a quarter mile.  Anything less is just snowfall.  But with the right conditions even plain old snowfall can escalate into a full-blown blizzard.

Blizzards are feared not only for the dangerous conditions they create, but also for the aftermath of these brutal storms.  Downed power lines and outages often follow in the wake of a blizzard.  Bitter temperatures and limited heating solutions can cause frozen and burst pipes, leading to flooding and property damage.  Significant snowfall often accompanies these storms, causing roadways to become slippery, obstructed or even completely impassable.  Roofs may collapse under heavy snow and the stress of shoveling has been known to cause heart attacks.