North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota is the most blizzard-prone region of the United States outside of the North Slope of Alaska. However, the Fargo-Moorhead area has not experienced a true blizzard since February 2014.
It is not unusual for a single winter to produce several blizzards, nor is it unusual to go a winter or two without. During these blizzard-free periods, a lot of people move into the Fargo-Moorhead area from elsewhere and might not be aware of what a blizzard actually is.
Colloquial definitions vary, and in many parts of the country any heavy snow is casually called a blizzard. But by definition, a blizzard is when strong wind (around or in excess of 35 mph) whips snow into the air and keeps it airborne.
Falling snow is not a requirement as long as there is snow on the ground that the wind can lift. A key requirement is visibility of less than a quarter-mile. Falling snow can make it easier to reach these required conditions, but a blizzard is really more about the wind than the snow.
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