snowstorm
Americannoun
-
snowstorms
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of snowstorm
Explanation
A snowstorm is a disturbed weather event that leads to a whole lot of white, frozen precipitation. If there's a snowstorm in the forecast, you may want to reschedule your picnic! Among all the various kinds of storms — including windstorms, rainstorms, and hailstorms — only a snowstorm has the potential to bury your car under a fluffy pile of snow. If it gets windy enough, a snowstorm can become a blizzard, dumping so much blowing snow that you can't see through it. Snowstorm merges snow and storm, which comes from a root word that means "to whirl or turn."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Shoveling out my car after a snowstorm while chatting with an Oura-wearing friend, we speculated about whether the ring would know what I’d been up to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
Video taken Monday afternoon in Washington Square Park shows a snowball fight following an epic snowstorm devolving into some parkgoers apparently targeting police with snowballs.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
Dan Bennette: I was unemployed for a little bit and looking for a little pocket money, so I saw during the first snowstorm that they were doing emergency shovelers and I just signed up online.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
In front of Moscow's ornate Bolshoi Theatre, its soft yellow lights illuminating a snowstorm in the Russian capital, Valentina Ivakina had come to "escape today's problems".
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
She’s shaking like a mouse in a snowstorm.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Throughout its long life, the tree had survived fires, winds and snowstorms and more recently, the extreme weather that comes with climate change.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
This past week’s snowstorm has been described as “historic” for its hurricane-force winds and massive amount of snowfall, and it’s just one of several snowstorms this area of the country has had this season.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2026
Cava Group issued an upbeat sales forecast for this year, as cautious customers shook off the effects of snowstorms and last year’s government shutdown to return to the Mediterranean fast-casual chain for bowls and salads.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026
They withstood snowstorms in Livigno, cheered the debut of ski mountaineering in Bormio and held their breath while multiple skiers got airlifted off the downhill course in Cortina.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2026
Winter would be coming soon, Tata said, and with it, chilly winds, snowstorms, and short days.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
