As it turns out, the late 1800s was a bad period if you were hoping to avoid getting caught in an American blizzard. The Snow King—a.k.a the Great Arctic Outbreak, the Great Blizzard of 1899 ...

The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as blowing or falling snow with winds of at least 35 miles per hour. The result is reduced visibility to a quarter of a mile or less for three hours ...