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The earliest recorded appearance of the word blizzard meaning “a severe snowstorm” was in the April 23, 1870 issue of a newspaper published in Estherville, Iowa. Blizzard shows up again during the following years in several newspapers in Iowa and neighboring states, and by 1888, when a snowstorm paralyzed the Eastern seaboard, the word was well-known nationally. However, in other senses, the word blizzard existed earlier. Davy Crockett, for instance, used it twice in the 1830s, once to mean a rifle blast and once to refer to a blast of words. All of these uses seem related, but the ultimate origin of the word is still unclear.
Examples of blizzard in a Sentence
Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for much of New Jersey, the New York City area, and parts of Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
—Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 21 Feb. 2026
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued blizzard warnings for millions of residents in New Jersey, Delaware, Long Island, New York City, and southern Connecticut from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon.
—Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR, 21 Feb. 2026
The National Weather Service on Saturday issued a blizzard warning across all five boroughs, as well as Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, southern Connecticut and much of New Jersey.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 21 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for blizzard
Cite this Entry
“Blizzard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blizzard. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
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blizzard
noun
