The word 'blizzard' is one of the most famous examples of an English word whose origin remains genuinely uncertain despite extensive investigation. The word first appeared in American English in the 1850s, initially meaning 'a sharp blow,' 'a volley,' or 'a burst of activity.' The earliest known use in print with its modern meaning — a severe snowstorm with wind and low visibility — dates to 1870, in an Iowa newspaper describing a winter storm.
The meteorological sense was dramatically popularized by the devastating winter of 1880–1881 on the American Great Plains. Newspapers across the country adopted 'blizzard' to describe the series of catastrophic snowstorms that killed hundreds of people and millions of livestock. The word spread rapidly through national media coverage, and by the mid-1880s it had largely displaced older terms like 'snowstorm' for the most severe events. The Great Blizzard of 1888 (the 'Schoolchildren's Blizzard' of January and the 'Great White
Several etymological theories have been proposed. The most commonly cited links the word to German 'Blitz' (lightning, a sudden violent flash), which could have entered American frontier English through German immigrants who were numerous in the upper Midwest. Another theory connects it to dialectal English 'blizzer' or 'blister,' meaning a sharp blow or a crack. A third theory, championed by the American etymologist Allen Walker Read
The word 'blitz' itself — related or not — comes from German 'Blitz' (lightning), from Middle High German 'blicze,' ultimately from the Proto-Germanic *blikkatjan (to flash, to gleam). This is the same root behind English 'blink' and 'blank.' If 'blizzard' derives from this source, then the word's underlying metaphor is a storm that flashes, blinds, and strikes with lightning-like violence.
Meteorologically, a blizzard is defined by the U.S. National Weather Service as a storm with sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph (56 km/h) or greater, combined with falling and/or blowing snow that reduces visibility to a quarter mile (400 meters) or less, lasting at least three hours. The definition focuses on wind and visibility rather than snowfall amount — a blizzard can occur with no new snowfall if existing ground snow is blown by high winds (a 'ground blizzard').
The most deadly blizzard in American history was the 'Schoolchildren's Blizzard' of January 12, 1888, which struck the Great Plains. The morning was unseasonably warm, and many children went to school without heavy coats. When the storm hit in the early afternoon, temperatures plunged by 30–40 degrees in minutes. An estimated 235 people died, many of them children lost between
The figurative use of 'blizzard' to mean 'an overwhelming quantity' (a blizzard of paperwork, a blizzard of complaints) developed by the 1880s, exploiting the image of being buried and blinded by sheer volume. The word has also become a brand name — Dairy Queen's 'Blizzard' (a thick soft-serve ice cream treat, introduced in 1985) plays on the association with ice and cold.