IAS Prelims 2017 Important Topics on Current Affairs: Blizzards
The Union public service commission conducts civil services examination every year. The preliminary exam will be held on June 18, 2017. This exam consists of two papers consisting of General studies and aptitude paper. The current affair plays a vital role in the selection procedure of the students in Civil services exam. IAS prelim is one of the most designated and difficult examinations in the country. The selection rate is hardly 0.1-0.4 % of the total aspiring candidates who appear forUPSC online exam.
In recent years, IAS preparation has been a bit confusing for the students because the questions are mostly on facts rather than concepts. The candidates should be well versed with the conventional areas and current affairs to score well in the UPSC examination. Current affairs not only help in written exams but in interviews too. One such topic included in current Affairs section is Blizzard.
Definition of Blizzard:
Blizzards are often known as winter storm which contains a large amount of snow or blowing snow which is accompanied by heavy snowfalls and chilly weather. The winds during blizzards are of 35mph and foggy weather. The snow that has fallen creates a strong wind known as ground blizzard.
Characteristics of Blizzard: These conditions arise on the northwest side. The lower pressure and the high pressure have a difference which creates a strong pressure gradient and the pressure results in strong winds. The blowing snow from the ground creates low visibilities due to drifting of snow.
- It is often called as snowstorm where the atmospheric temperatures remains less than -10 degree
- Winds blow at a speed of 55.6 km/hr with blowing snow which has already fallen
- Visibility is not more than 200m which lasts for three hours or more.
- The combination of the wind, temperature, human activity and snowfall results in blizzard
- The dangerous condition prevails when the snow along with blowing snow combines together.
- The blizzard and the snowstorm differ in the wind strength, not the amount.
- The cold temperature that causes a chill in the bones can result in hypothermia or frostbite. This is mainly due to the combination of wind and the temperature.
Mainly there are three types of Blizzard namely Ground Blizzard, Lake-Effect Blizzard and Snowstorm.
Ground Blizzard:
It occurs due to the high winds which blow snow that has already fallen. Ground blizzard can be classified into three types- horizontal advection where wind blows horizontally drifting the snow all around the earth’s surface, vertical advection where wind blows in upward direction creating waves of snow in hundreds of feet high in the atmosphere and thermal-mechanical which is a deadly combination of horizontal and vertical advection where a two-storey house can be seen being buried from space.
Lake-Effect Blizzard:
These type of blizzards are generally seen in the large shorelines of lakes like great Lakes of North America. This is due to high winds combined with lake snow. The cold winds blow over the warmer lake water where the winds lift the water vapor into the air and so the snow gets dumped along the shoreline. Lake-Effect Blizzard is very rare.
Snowstorm:
This is a traditional blizzard which includes heavy snowfall with below freezing atmospheric temperature. Blizzards differ from snowstorms, which means high winds at 56 km/hr and reduce visibility not more than 1300 feet.
The question on current affairs consists of blizzards and candidates need to have a detailed knowledge to score well. The above-mentioned points are to be remembered for IAS preparation.
About the author:
With a degree in Engineering, Shreyaa Banerjee is a content writer by profession. She is a voracious reader apart from writing and blogging along with part-time teaching. She is presently exploring all about the digital education with Byju’s-the Learning App.
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