What does a blizzard look like?  What does a blizzard look like?
»Play Video  While some might think that a heavy snow amid gusts
of 30-40 mph might be cause to stay away, Jonathan Cooper
thought, you know, maybe I ought to capture this on film.  He
braved the blowing snow to head up to Stevens Pass during
Wednesday's storm to give a glimpse of what life was like up in
the mountains.  It wasn't an official blizzard --it qualified on
the wind, defined as 35 mph+ winds (which the anemometer at
Stevens Pass showed gusts of 30+ mph with a peak gust of 42) but
also 1/4 mile visibility or less, and judging from Cooper's
video, it doesn't look like it was that low. (And notice your
cell phones didn't blare to life with dire warnings.)  But from
a Western Washington "we freak out over 2 inches of snow"
perspective, it might as well be thought of as a blizzard: