Blizzard
NOAA Storm Events type · 17,342 records since 1996 · 46 states and territories
The National Weather Service defines blizzard as: "A winter storm which produces the following conditions for three (3) consecutive hours or longer: (1) sustained winds or frequent gusts 30 knots (35 mph) or greater, and (2) falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility frequently to less than 1/4 mile." NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 17,342 blizzard records from 1996 through June 30, 2026, the most in North Dakota (2,735), with 249 deaths recorded.
How the National Weather Service files blizzard
A winter storm which produces the following conditions for three (3) consecutive hours or longer: (1) sustained winds or frequent gusts 30 knots (35 mph) or greater, and (2) falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility frequently to less than 1/4 mile. If the event that occurred is considered significant, even though it affected a small area, it should be entered into Storm Data.
National Weather Service Instruction 10-1605, Storm Data Preparation (July 26, 2021), Appendix A, entry 3
Source: National Weather Service Instruction 10-1605. Read the instruction (PDF).
Blizzard, 1996 to 2026
Records per year (2026 to June 30, 2026).
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $10 million
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- $10 billion or more, or 1,000 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 17,3421996 to June 30, 2026
- Deaths
- 249653 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $1.0Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
- Counties with a record
- 1,610of 3,266
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026. Search the record at NCEI.
Where do blizzard records happen?
States
Counties
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).
When do blizzard records happen?
49% of its blizzard records since 1996 fell in December and January. The busiest month is December.
The values, month by month
Jan 4,100 · Feb 3,189 · Mar 2,890 · Apr 1,263 · May 51 · Jun 0 · Jul 5 · Aug 0 · Sep 5 · Oct 352 · Nov 1,090 · Dec 4,397 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.
The deadliest blizzard records
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-12-23 | BlizzardErie County, NY · forecast zone Northern Erie A historic lake effect blizzard occurred northeast of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario during the Christmas holiday weekend. The combination of high winds in excess of 70 mph and heavy lake effect snow resulted in devastating impacts across western New York and also east of Lake Ontario from December 23 through December 27. ... | 40 | 0 | $15M | |
| 2022-12-13 | BlizzardTodd County, SD · forecast zone Todd A powerful winter storm moved slowly across the central and northern Plains to the upper Midwest; bringing heavy snow, some mixed precipitation, strong winds, and periods of blizzard or near blizzard conditions across the plains for a multi-day period. Snowfall was heaviest from northwestern to south central South ... | 5 | 0 | – | |
| 2011-02-01 | BlizzardCook County, IL · forecast zone Cook A 69 year old man was walking through a parking lot in Barrington, during the blizzard, and suffered a fatal heart attack. A 58 year old man from Lyons died of a heart attack late in the evening of February 1st while shoveling snow. A 60 year old Chicago man was either blown in or had fallen into Lake Michigan near ... | 5 | 0 | $262K | |
| 2022-12-23 | BlizzardSandusky County, OH · forecast zone Sandusky An Arctic cold front swept through the area shortly before midnight December 23rd. Low pressure along this front tracked over Lake Erie early in the morning on December 23rd and rapidly intensified through the day while slowly lifting northeast across Ontario. With the frontal passage rain changed to snow with ... | 4 | 73 | – | |
| 1997-10-24 | BlizzardConejos County and Costilla County, CO · forecast zone Southern El Paso County/Colorado Springs And Vicinity | 4 | 2 | $552K | |
| 1996-01-07 | BlizzardPhiladelphia County, PA · forecast zone Philadelphia The Blizzard of '96, the second coined "STORM OF THE CENTURY" of this decade brought record breaking snow to most of Southeast Pennsylvania and paralyzed the region for several days, caused most municipalities to exceed their annual snow budgets during this one storm, caused several building collapses and caused ... | 4 | 0 | $1.9M | |
| 2011-02-01 | BlizzardDuPage County, IL · forecast zone Du Page Four men died from heart attacks while shoveling snow including a 61 year old man and a 62 year old man, both in Carol Stream; a 69 year old man in Glendale Heights and a 69 year old man in Downers Grove. | 4 | 0 | $98K | |
| 2011-02-01 | BlizzardOttawa County, OK · forecast zone Ottawa Twelve to nineteen inches of snow fell across the county. | 3 | 5 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, deaths direct and indirect as filed.
The most recent blizzard records
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-18 | BlizzardAlbany County and Carbon County, WY · forecast zone North Snowy Range Foothills | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-01 | BlizzardNorth Slope Borough, AK · forecast zone Western Arctic Coast | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-23 | BlizzardNorth Slope Borough, AK · forecast zone Western Arctic Coast | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-23 | BlizzardMcCone County, MT · forecast zone McCone | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-23 | BlizzardValley County, MT · forecast zone Northern Valley | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-23 | BlizzardValley County, MT · forecast zone Central And Southern Valley | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-22 | BlizzardNome Census Area, AK · forecast zone Southern Seward Peninsula Coast | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-22 | BlizzardNome Census Area, AK · forecast zone Bering Strait Coast | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.