The winter storm Blair affected lots of people across the country, with Chapman, Kansas receiving 18 inches of snow and Saint Joseph, Missouri receiving 16 inches of snow. The Dulles Airport area measured around 5.1 inches. Overall, this was our biggest snowfall that we have had in three years.
Winter Storm Blair started on January 3, 2025 bringing snow to the Pacific Northwest and then snowed in the Rockies the following day. It was a result of the polar vortex. The polar vortex is a formation of winds moving westward that is collected over the Arctic during the winter. The North Pole was warming up faster than other places, which weakened the polar vortex and the jet stream. Because of this, the vortex got knocked out of place causing many regions to become very cold.
Impacts
At least ten people died because of Winter Storm Blair. It also caused the closure of interstates and major flight cancellation and delays. For instance, 484 flights were cancelled and 955 flights were delayed on Tuesday (Latest Updates as Winter Storm Blair Impacts Travel, Baratti). On Monday, 2,341 flights were cancelled and 9,731 were delayed. Another major impact was the ice on the power lines caused more than 350,000 homes to have power outages (Latest Updates as Winter Storm Blair Impacts Travel, Baratti).
Pros and Cons
There are a lot of pros and cons for adults and students. For example, students didn’t have to go to school. Sophomore Izzy Ustariz Velasquez remarked, “One pro about this winter storm was that I was able to have hot cocoa, sit by the fireplace and enjoy some amazing time with my family.” Sophomore Clara Loy said “Cons that I experienced were mostly having bad roads and not being able to go places.”
Winter Storm Blair ended on January 6, and it was the last day that some states saw it snowing. Although that snow storm has stopped, we will still see some more snow days within the next month.
