In a true whiteout there is no visible horizon. People can become lost in their own front yards, when the door is only 3 m (10 ft) away, and they would have to feel their way back. Motorists have to stop their cars where they are, as the road is impossible to see. Noreaster blizzards
A noreaster is a macro-scale storm that occurs off the New England and Atlantic Canada coastlines. It gets its name from the direction the wind is coming from. The usage of the term in North America comes from the wind associated with many different types of storms some of which can form in the North Atlantic Ocean and some of which form as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The term is most often used in the coastal areas of New England and Atlantic Canada. This type of storm has characteristics similar to a hurricane. More specifically it describes a low-pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds in the left-forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. High storm waves may sink ships at sea and cause coastal flooding and beach erosion. Notable noreasters include The Great Blizzard of 1888, one of the worst blizzards in U.S. history. It dropped 100–130 cm (40–50 in) of snow and had sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) that produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet (15 m).
It was not accompanied by high winds, but the snow fell steadily with drifts reaching 10 ft (3.0 m). Seventy-seven deaths were attributed to the blizzard. The Blizzard of 1949 - The first blizzard started on Sunday, January 2, 1949; it lasted for three days. It was followed by two more months of blizzard after blizzard with high winds and bitter cold. Deep drifts isolated southeast Wyoming, northern Colorado, western South Dakota and western Nebraska, for weeks. Railroad tracks and roads were all drifted in with drifts of 20 feet (6.1 m) and more. Hundreds of people that had been traveling on trains were stranded. Motorists that had set out on January 2 found their way to private farm homes in rural areas and hotels and other buildings in towns; some dwellings were so crowded that there wasnt enough room for all to sleep at once. It would be weeks before they were plowed out. The Federal government quickly responded with aid, airlifting food and hay for livestock. The total rescue effort involved numerous volunteers and local agencies plus at least ten major state and federal agencies from the U.S. Army to the National Park Service. Private businesses, including railroad and oil companies, also lent manpower and heavy equipment to the work of plowing out. The official death toll was 76 people and one million livestock.