C. Mitigation
and Social Aspects
(Source: NOAA)
1.
Human
Impacts
Each year, tens of Americans die due to exposure to cold. Auto accidents and fires due to dangerous use of heaters and other winter weather hazards add to the fatalities. Threats, such as hypothermia and frostbite, can lead to loss of fingers and toes and even lead to death.
(Source:
NOAA)
Winter
fatalities for 2001 are broken down by states and by causes at the following
NWS, NOAA online document:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/severe_weather/winter01.pdf
Windchill is not the actual temperature but how wind and cold makes one feel. As wind increases, more heat is carried away from the body, causing lowered body temperature (NOAA). The chart below shows how windchill temperatures are calculated.
Windchill calculator allows you to enter wind and temperature data to get windchill values. Click on the site below and see how cold it gets under different conditions.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/windchill/#calculator
The new Canadian Windchill Index is described at:
http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/air/wintersevere/windchill.en.html
2.
Environmental
Impacts
Winter snows and ice have many benefits and hazards to living organisms. Snow insulates the ground from the cold air and provides water for plants with spring melt. Heavy snow, early or late snows may cover food from browsers, lead to flooding with rapid melt. Ice storms coat trees, often breaking branches, damaging trees under their tremendous weight. A Canadian report on the billion-dollar ice storm of 1998 describes the toll of this massive disaster at:
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/16F0021XIB/storm1.pdf
For another version, see:
CNN’s stories on the 1998 Ice Storm of eastern U.S. and Canada.
3.
Mitigating Losses
Winter weather safety rules
http://weathereye.kgan.com/expert/blizzard/WinterSafe.html
Snow forecasting
The Red Cross and the National Weather Service, NOAA combined to produce a very useful and informative guide for winter weather safety called
Winter Storms: The Deceptive Killers