Eli5: If storms need warm air/ to form, how do blizzards form?
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These occur in cold regions during winter when there’s an intense low-pressure system combined with high winds, causing the snow to be lifted and blown around, creating whiteout conditions.
Storms need relatively warm air to form. If you have 0 degree air meeting -10 degree air you have the same relative temperature difference that you have if 30 degree air meets 20 degree air.
It’s pretty simple: the cold air that drives winter storms is *even colder* than the “warm” air it encounters.
The poles are huge air-cooling machines during winter because they’re dark. There’s a big area of no sunlight all through fall and winter (biggest in December or July) which means no heat from sunlight. That sucks warmth out of the atmosphere, especially the low levels near the surface. Air sinks and builds up and eventually big blobs spin off away from the poles, moving along the surface. This stuff is really cold, mind-numbingly cold, as it crosses places like Canada, Siberia, and Northern Europe.
It runs into air masses that are only normally cold, which makes them “warm” (in comparison). The warmer sector of a winter storm can still be pretty cold, it’s just not wtf-cold.
Blizzards form when cold air masses meet warm, moist air masses. The warm air rises above the cold air, cools down, and forms snow clouds. As these clouds move, they drop heavy snowfall, strong winds, and low visibility, creating blizzard conditions. So, even though blizzards involve cold air, they still need some warm, moist air to start the process.
Blizzards or snow storms in general form when warm air meets cool air. The warm air has the moisture and the cool air has the “cold.” Combine the two and you get snow.
Alright kiddo, let’s break this down step by step:
1. Storms don’t just need warm air. They need differences in air temperature.
2. For blizzards, cold air meets moist, slightly warmer air.
3. This moist air rises and forms clouds.
4. The clouds release snow when it’s cold enough.
5. Strong winds blow this snow around, making it hard to see.
6. When you have a lot of snow and strong winds together, we call that a blizzard!
So, blizzards form when cold air, moisture, and strong winds come together!
It’s less about how hot or cold the air is, and is more about the *tempurature difference* between the two air masses.
ELI5: Storms do not need warm air to form, they simply need *warmer* air than normal to form.
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