the.com/snow squall
Winter's jump scare: blinding snow and whiteout roads, gone in minutes.
means A brief, intense burst of heavy snowfall with strong winds that sharply cuts visibility, then clears quickly.
from Straightforward compound: 'snow' plus 'squall,' an old nautical and weather term (traced to 17th-century northern English/Scandinavian roots, possibly related to words for a sudden loud cry or gust) used for a sudden violent gust or burst of wind, often with rain or snow. Sailors used 'squall' long before meteorologists borrowed it for land forecasts, pairing it with 'snow' to name these short, violent whiteout bursts distinct from long winter storms.
- duration
- usually lasts under 30 minutes
- danger
- causes pileup crashes from sudden zero visibility
- warning type
- now gets its own NWS alert, like tornadoes
- vs blizzard
- shorter and sharper, not longer sustained snow