What to do in a winter storm or blizzard

Stay in your shelter, or stay with your car. Don’t walk out into a blizzard. Stranded in a car, run the motor about 10 minutes each hour for heat, crack a window while it runs and keep the exhaust pipe clear of snow. Watch for hypothermia: shivering, confusion, fumbling hands, slurred speech, drowsiness. Below 95°F is an emergency.

What to do right now

1. Stranded in a car: run the motor about 10 minutes each hour for heat.
2. Crack a window while it runs, and keep the exhaust pipe clear of snow.
3. Keep a winter kit in the car: blankets, water, food, flashlight, shovel.

Remember: Stay in your shelter, or stay with your car. Don't walk out into it.

If someone is freezing

1. Signs: shivering, confusion, fumbling hands, slurred speech, drowsiness.
2. Get them somewhere warm. Take off wet clothing.
3. Warm the center first: chest, neck, head, groin. Share body heat under blankets.
4. Warm drinks if they're awake. No alcohol. Below 95°F is an emergency: call 911.
5. Not breathing, or no pulse? Handle gently, call 911, start CPR even if they seem dead. Keep warming them.

Remember: Don't rub or warm the arms and legs first.

Warning signs

A blizzard warning, falling temperatures, wind-driven snow. Whiteout: you can't see far enough to navigate.

What happened: The Children’s Blizzard, 1888

On 12 January 1888 a blizzard swept across the Northern Plains. It killed 235 people, many of them children on their way home from school, according to the National Weather Service.

The lesson: Stay in your shelter, or stay with your car. Don't walk out into it.

Get ready before it happens

• Set up the car kit: Blankets, water, food, flashlight, first aid, a charger. A shovel and sand in snow country.
• One warm room at home. Never heat with an oven or a grill.