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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
Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026
In March, much of that precipitation fell as snow, including in an enormous blizzard that brought 3 feet of snow to parts of Michigan.
—The Conversation, 22 Apr. 2026
Floods, droughts, deep freezes, and blizzards!
—Teresa Woodard, Midwest Living, 21 Apr. 2026
For decades, Indian Point operated 24/7 and supplied roughly 2,000 megawatts of carbon-free electricity around the clock — through heat waves, blizzards, and everything in between.
—Nicole Malliotakis, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 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 1 May. 2026.
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blizzard
noun
