Transmission towers and lines with snow in East Texas

Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, and Snowzilla are

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsArmageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armie ...

", "

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imagery ...

", and "

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

" respectively. Snowmageddon and Snowpocalypse were used in the

popular press Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information e ...

in Canada during January 2009, and was also used in January 2010 by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

'' reporter

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series '' Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as '' Br ...

to characterise the sensationalist reaction of television news to a period of snowfall across the UK. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nat ...

'', out of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, ran an online poll asking for reader feedback prior to the February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard on February 4, 2010, and several blogs, including the ''Washington Post''s own blog, followed that up by using either "Snowmageddon" or "Snowpocalypse" before, during, and after the storm hit. ''The Washington Post'' also popularized the term "kaisersnoze" (see

Keyser Söze Keyser Söze ( ) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 film ''The Usual Suspects'', written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. According to the main protagonist, petty con artist Roger "Verbal" Kint ...

) in response to the February snowstorms. During the evening preceding the first blizzard hitting Washington, D.C., most of the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

closed, and press coverage continued to characterize the storm using either "Snowmageddon", "Snowpocalypse", or both. The term "Snowpocalypse" was used in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

to refer to a snowstorm in December 2008. The 2008 children's book ''Winter Blast'' by Chris Wright, uses the term "snowmageddon" in the storyline of the book.

Examples

* The Great Blizzard of '93 * North American blizzard of 2009 (SnowpocalypseCapital Weather Gang
/ref>) *

February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard The February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard, commonly referred to as ''Snowmageddon'', was a blizzard that had major and widespread impact in the Northeastern United States. The storm's center tracked from Baja California Sur on February 2, ...

(Snowmageddon) *

February 9–10, 2010 North American blizzard The February 9–10, 2010 North American blizzard was a winter and severe weather event that afflicted the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States between February 9–11, 2010, affecting some of the same regions that h ...

(Snowmageddon: Snoverkill) * February 25–27, 2010 North American blizzard (Snowicane) * December 2010 North American blizzard * January 31 – February 2, 2011 North American blizzard * February 2013 nor'easter *

Early 2014 North American cold wave The early 2014 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event that extended through the late winter months of the 2013–2014 winter season, and was also part of an unusually cold winter affecting parts of Canada and parts of the north-cen ...

* November 13 – 21, 2014 North American winter storm *

January 2016 United States blizzard The January 2016 United States blizzard was a blizzard that produced up to 3 ft (91 cm) of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States from January 22–24, 2016. Evolving from a shortwave trough that formed in the Pacific ...

(Snowzilla) * Winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom * Winter of 2010–2011 in the United Kingdom * January 17, 2020 in St. John's, Canada blizzard (Snowmageddon) *

February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm A major winter and ice storm had widespread impacts across the United States, Northern Mexico, and parts of Canada from February 13 to 17, 2021. The storm, unofficially referred to as ''Winter Storm Uri'' by the Weather Channel, started out ...

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{Cite web , last = , first = , title = Snowpocalypse Now , url = http://www.northkitsapherald.com/news/36658439.html , publisher = North Kitsap Herald , date = 23 December 2008 , accessdate = 17 January 2012 {{Cite web , last = Wheaton , first = Sarah , title = Snowpocalypse Now, and Then , url = http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/snowpocalypse-now-and-then/ , publisher = NYTimes.com , date = 19 December 2009 , accessdate = 17 January 2012 2000s neologisms Popular culture neologisms Winter weather events

Examples

See also

References