Snowmageddon

Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, and Snowzilla are portmanteaus of the word "snow" with either "Armageddon", "Apocalypse" and "Godzilla" respectively. Snowmageddon and Snowpocalypse seem to have first been published in the popular press in Canada during January 2009,^[1] and was also used in January 2010 by The Guardian reporter Charlie Brooker in January 2010, to characterise the sensationalist reaction of television news to a period of snowfall across the UK.^[2] The Washington Post, out of Washington, DC, ran an online poll asking for reader feedback prior to the First North American blizzard of 2010 on February 4, 2010,^[3] and several blogs, including the Washington Post's own blog, followed that up by using either "Snowmageddon" and or "Snowpocalypse" before, during, and after the storm hit.^[4]

The Washington Post also popularized the term "kaisersnoze" (see Keyser Söze) in response to the February snowstorms.^[5]

During the evening preceding the first blizzard hitting Washington, DC, most of the United States federal government closed, and press coverage continued to characterize the storm using either "Snowmageddon", "Snowpocalypse", or both.^[6] The phrase was later popularized by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, on February 8, 2010, who used the term while speaking at the Democratic National Committee's meeting.^[7]

The term "Snowpocalypse" was used in the Pacific Northwest to refer to a snowstorm in December 2008.^[8][9]

The 2008 children's book Winter Blast by Chris Wright, uses the term "snowmageddon" in the storyline of the book.^[10]

Television film

Snowmageddon is also the title of a made-for television movie, produced by Snow Globe Productions for the SyFy Channel and released in 2011.^[11]

Music

Snowmageddon is also the sixth song in Pick Your Poison EP of the post-hardcore band Famous Last Words.

See also

Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, and Snowzilla can refer specifically to:

• (collectively or inclusively) the

• North American blizzard of 2009 (Snowpocalypse^[12])
• February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard (Snowmageddon^[12])
• February 9–10, 2010 North American blizzard (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
• November 13 – 21, 2014 North American winter storm
• January 2016 United States blizzard (Snowzilla^[13])

• Winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom

Similar terms

• Snowzilla
• 1993 Storm of the Century
• Perfect Storm
• 1991 Perfect Storm
• White Juan
• Carmageddon (disambiguation)
• Superstorm
• Superstorm Sandy

References

1. Ibbotson, Heather (January 26, 2010). "Mild winter easy on city budget". Brantford Expositor. Retrieved February 11, 2010. "At this time last year, we were referring to it as snowmageddon," Madden said.
2. Brooker, Charlie (January 16, 2010). "Charlie Brooker's Screen burn". The Guardian. Retrieved February 11, 2010. As far as the 24-hour rolling networks were concerned, this wasn't a freak weather condition. This was war. Death from the skies. Earth versus the Ice Warriors. Snowmageddon.
3. "Vote for storm name, Twitter hashtag & snow total". Washington Post. February 4, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
4. Broder, John M.; Healy, Jack (February 5, 2010). "East Coast Is Hit by ‘Potentially Epic Snowstorm’". The New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2010. bracing for what newspapers and bloggers have been calling the “snowpocalypse,” or “snowmageddon,”
5. Gainor, Dan M. (February 10, 2010). "Washington's New Four-Letter Word: Snow". Fox News. Reuters. Retrieved February 12, 2010. D.C. residents have turned to social media like Twitter and Facebook to vent their frustration with terms like “snOMG,” “snowmageddon”, “snowpocalypse”, and “kaisersnoze”.
6. "Powerful blizzard shuts down US capital". Google News. AFP. February 5, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010. The storm, dubbed "Snowpocalypse" and "Snowmageddon" by many locals,
7. "Obama calls capital's blizzard `Snowmageddon'". Google News. Associated Press. February 6, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
8. "Snowpocalypse Now". North Kitsap Herald. 23 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
9. Wheaton, Sarah (19 December 2009). "Snowpocalypse Now, and Then". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
10. Wright, Chris (2008). Winter Blast. Mountain Valley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-934940-10-5. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
11. Snowmageddon (TV 2011) at IMDb
12. Capital Weather Gang
13. Angela Fritz (January 22, 2016). "We hereby name this winter storm ‘Snowzilla’". The Washington Post (Washington, D.C.). Retrieved January 22, 2016.