Boston Blizzard of January 2015

Slow Speed (3:48)

 

Normal Speed (2:20)

 

(How to use this lesson: Listen to me read the blog post out loud. Repeat as needed to understand. Look up any words or expressions you don’t understand. Listen again. Advanced students can watch the videos and read the extra materials below.)

As many of you know, I live on the West Coast of the United States, in the state of Washington. We have pretty mild winters here, especially if you don’t live in the mountains. We feel pretty happy about this, especially on days like yesterday, when the other side of the country, the East Coast, was being pummeled with a severe winter storm.

In Boston, yesterday, a blizzard warning was in effect all day and continued until late in the evening. They received over 30 inches of snow (that’s about 76 cm) in a short amount of time.

The blizzard even had a name  – JUNO.

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When you live in the U.S., it is important to keep up-to-date with the weather forecast, especially during the winter months, and especially if you live in certain states that tend to experience specific types of hazardous weather conditions, such as winter storms, heavy rains and flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, freezing rain or hail storms.

Blizzards are especially dangerous, so it is important to head the warnings. That means to pay attention to the weather warnings and do what the officials tell you to do.

Typically, a Blizzard Warning is issued when sustained winds or frequent gusts over 35 mph are expected with considerable falling and/or blowing and drifting snow. Visibility can become poor with whiteout conditions at times. Those venturing outdoors may become lost or disoriented, so people in the warning area are advised to stay indoors and off the roads.

All unnecessary travel is discouraged! A blizzard can be a serious life-threatening storm!

Now, that the Nor’Easter (that’s what they call a storm in the northeastern part of the country) has lifted, people will spend the next week or so recovering: clearing their driveways, plowing the roads, and getting the utilities back up and running.

Schools and businesses will likely stay closed until it is safe to get back on the roads, but in the meantime, the kids can enjoy the snow with some good ‘ol fashioned snowball fights.

 

 

Here are some articles related to this event, if you are interested in reading more:

As Nor’Easter Lifts, Life Slowly Gets Back To Normal In Hard-Hit Areas

Let It Snow by David Sedaris

Snow Scary

Is it Okay to Eat Snow? 

New York missed the worst of it!