Blizzards Fierce Earth

In February 2013, Boston in the north-eastern USA

was hit by the biggest blizzard in a generation.

Fierce Earth made sure I was right there...

This is easily hurricane force winds.

..to bring the story of 36 hours of winter chaos

that brought a city to a standstill.

The blizzard has definitely arrived here in downtown Boston.

In this blizzard special, we also meet the teenager

whose quick thinking saved his friends from freezing

high up in the mountains.

When you're in the situation that we were stuck in, it's do or die.

And Leo gets on his thermals to investigate

the invisible freezing effect of wind-chill.

Whoo!

Welcome to the icy world of a blizzard!

What happens when the ground shakes, the seas rise up

and the air tears itself apart?

The Fierce Earth team move in,

taking on the most powerful forces on the planet.

Get ready for Fierce Earth -

the Earth, and how to survive it.

Boston, one of America's oldest and most historic cities.

This area is home to more than four million people.

They're no stranger to winter snowfall here.

But in early February 2013,

everybody was told to prepare for a potentially massive blizzard.

This is a storm of major proportions.

Stay off the roads, stay home.

It looks like everyone's aware the storm is coming.

You've got to plan ahead. Two feet of snow would shut everything down.

It's 9:15 Friday morning. Everyone is trying to get home.

The news channels are warning people to brace themselves.

'Everybody's in a panic, getting ready. We don't know what to expect.'

'Well, we do know what to expect.

'At least one to even two feet of snow for some of the biggest cities

'in North Eastern New England.'

And, 20 miles out of town,

I'm also getting ready to take on this huge weather event.

I've chased extreme weather all over the world.

Tornadoes...

..hurricanes...

Here we are in Hurricane Ivan!

..and blizzards.

Back in Boston, I've got loads of technology to help me stay

one step ahead of the storm, like this snowfall tracker.

If you see this red bull's-eye area, it's centred right on top of Boston.

What it's saying is, it thinks Boston will receive

up to three feet of snow - that's 36 inches, which is incredible.

Looking at this, the blizzard's here, I'm here.

I'm ahead of the game because I'm in Boston before the blizzard arrives

and I'm ready to document what could be the storm of the century.

So, what am I going to be up against?

A blizzard is the name given to weather like this.

Gale force winds mixed with intense snowfall

and virtually no visibility.

We need two ingredients to form a blizzard.

Warm moist air which blows across a lake or the sea

and rises to form huge clouds.

And, cold, dry air which sits near to the ground

to chill all rain into snow.

When the cold, dry air collides with the warm, moist front,

we get stormy, windy conditions.

You now have everything you need for a blizzard.

Boston is no stranger to extreme weather.

The city has a well-rehearsed emergency drill.

RADIO: 'Boston is on lockdown.

'Their airport shut down and states of emergency were declared

'in at least five states.'

As we near the city, the snow gets heavier,

but this is just for starters.

One thing to keep in mind is blizzards can come out of nowhere.

They can just ramp up from just a light snow

to extreme blizzard conditions, white-out conditions.

Downtown Boston. The city is preparing for the worst.

Every snowplough, shovel and emergency truck

is out on the street.

These guys are doing what they can do, but let's face it,

man versus nature, nature's going to win every time.

These conditions are getting too dangerous for driving,

so I'm taking the car into an underground car park.

If worst comes to the worst, it can be my home for the night.

Out on foot, the city feels a very different, scary place.

Well, you can see the snow trucks are starting, ploughing the roads.

Basically, this will be an emergency situation.

Everything will be in full force -

the firefighters, the ambulance, the snow ploughs.

Emergency rescue is all on right now, and this is just the beginning.

As the hours pass, two massive weather fronts are colliding

right over the city to set this blizzard into motion.

As day turns into night,

for those still on the streets, the rush is on to get home.

But I'm going nowhere.

By 7pm, the wind is whipping through downtown Boston

and the snow is blowing in all directions.

The winds are starting to really pick up here.

The blizzard has definitely arrived here in downtown Boston.

Wow! It feels like little needles hitting you all over the face

and it's freezing cold.

You can see the winds are funnelling between these buildings

and just whipping down the road and bringing all the snow with it.

This is getting fierce.

Agh!

I want to find out whether we're now in official blizzard conditions.

If I can hold steady for long enough I'm going to take a reading

on a wind-speed metre.

So, basically what defines a blizzard is 35mph winds sustained.

Also low visibility.

So what I'm going to do now is take wind readings to see if we meet

that 35mph criteria.

We're in the 30s, so we ARE in blizzard conditions.

'It's official! This is now a blizzard.'

It's no wonder the streets are almost deserted.

These are nearly gale force winds.

In the UK, wind speeds rarely get this high

and, here, I have the snow to contend with.

The fierce wind is chilling all my exposed skin,

so whenever I find shelter, I take it.

Because what's happening is we're getting hurricane force winds,

which I'm used to,

but its combining with these freezing temperatures,

now you have wind-chill, and that can be extremely dangerous.

The temperature is staying around minus two degrees,

but it feels a lot colder, and that's down to the wind.

While I get myself warm...

..Leo's heading to the coldest lab in Britain to find out

more about wind-chill.

I'm no stranger to icy conditions.

In my job as a climber, I end up working in some pretty chilly places,

but normally I have loads of very thick clothes to protect me.

The rules are changing today.

In this special lab, I'm about to put my body through an extreme test,

to find out how it reacts to blizzard-strength wind-chill

with almost no protective gear at all. Wish me luck!

This room is a climatic wind tunnel.

And it's used to put cars through their paces

in the nastiest weather imaginable.

Today, the car's being given a day off and I'm the test subject.

-Dr Ian!

-How are you doing, Leo?

-Excellent.

Making sure I stay safe in this extreme test is Dr Ian Davies.

He's an experienced polar explorer, so this place feels like home to him.

If I start by listening to your heart.

'After a quick medical...'

Let's have a listen to your back.

-I'm happy that you're nice and fit.

-OK.

'..it's time to get kitted up ready to face the minus 15-degree chamber.

'That's the same temperature as your freezer at home.

-'Thick clothes, surely?'

-That's it!

'Unfortunately for me, the only way to show how wind-chill works

'is for me to brave this sub-zero lab wearing just one layer of clothing.'

This is what I'll be wearing.

And that's what Ian'll be wearing.

-Let's go!

-Let's go!

-Are you sure you'll be warm enough?

-I'm going to roast.

'It doesn't look cold in here, but, trust me, it's freezing.

'Britain rarely experiences temperatures below minus 15.'

Woo!

Brisk!

'The air in here is still, so I can just about cope with the cold,

'but if that air starts being blown around,

'I'll have wind-chill to worry about.'

So, what is wind-chill?

Well, you know when you have a hot cup of tea

and it's too hot to drink... so you blow on it...

..and it cools down? Well, that's wind-chill.

What's happening is, you're blowing away a thin layer of warm air

that's sitting on top of the tea and replacing it with cold air.

Imagine that I'm the tea.

Even with thin clothes, there's a layer of air trapped keeping me warm.

As soon as the slightest breeze comes along,

that air gets pushed away and a new layer of cold air comes,

and your body loses heat warming up that cold air.

'Dr Ian's got a thermal-imaging camera

'which will show where my body is losing heat.'

Your face is already losing a lot of heat. It's red on this camera.

'Red, like you see on my face,

'means that's a lot of heat is escaping.

'Blue, like we see on Dr Ian's thick clothing, means his body

'is staying insulated.'

Even the thin layer of clothing you've got on is keeping you warm,

which is good because there's no wind in here.

-Trapping that layer of air.

-Yeah, it is.

'But that's all about to change.

'The guys start the fan at 10mph.

'That's a light breeze, but the effect is immediate.'

That's getting you really cold.

-10mph to begin with.

-Here comes the pain!

-Ooh!

-Feel the wind. How are you feeling?

'Remember, blizzard-strength wind needs to be 35mph.'

It's like ten times worse immediately. Awh!

HIS TEETH CHATTER

'Scientists use complex calculations to combine the actual temperature

'with the wind speed, to come up with a "feels like" temperature -

'how much colder your body feels with the wind.

'So for minus 15 and 10mph winds, it now feels like minus 23.

'And it's about to get much worse.'

-OK, the wind's going to go up to 20mph now, Leo.

-OK.

That's, like, quite a noticeable wind. Now my face is freezing.

'It's now minus 15 degrees Centigrade

'and, with the wind speed, my body feels like it's minus 27 degrees.

'That's the same as the lowest temperature ever recorded

'in Britain.'

And for your body to survive, it tries to suck all of the warm blood

into the middle to keep your heart going and your lungs going.

You're beginning to shiver, so your muscles are moving to get you warm

and your eyes are running as well.

Your eyes run to keep themselves lubricated.

'Dr Ian is worried that I'm cooling down too quickly in this clothing.

'We haven't got long, so it's all or nothing,

'as we increase the winds to blizzard speed - 35mph.'

'And, as a really nasty surprise, they turn on the snow!'

Whoo!

This is it! This is a proper blizzard! 35mph winds!

It's minus 15, our temperature.

Combined with the wind-chill that's minus 40.

And I'm in my undies!

'Of course, you should never go out in temperatures like this

'without proper clothes. You could get very ill very quickly.

'I'm doing it for science and I've got a doctor with me.'

Aaargh! That is cold!

'Within seconds, my clothing is soaked with the snow,

'meaning heat is escaping from my body even quicker.

'Dr Ian is worried.'

WHOA! HA-HA!

The wind is dropping your core temperature to a dangerous level.

You need to start thinking about how you can protect yourself

from the wind that's coming through. What are you going to do?

-Start to think, Leo. Come on, I know you're cold, but think!

-Hide!

'No matter how much it tries, my body is now unable to keep itself warm.'

Aaaargh!

I can't handle it! Aaargh!

'I've got to get out of the chamber.'

Ah-a-ah!

Argh!

Argh! That's cold!

Cor, it's...

You can't describe how much worse it is with the wind and the snow.

Ugh!

HE SHIVERS

'The only way to beat wind-chill is to put a barrier up between you

'and the icy wind, so I put on my special down-filled suit

'and head back in for round two with the blizzard.'

This is more like it!

This is what you should be wearing in these kind of conditions.

'Dr Ian and I can now face this extreme wind head-on.

'This is the kind of weather you'd face in a storm on Mount Everest.

'But, even with our polar gear on, we still wouldn't last long

'in a temperature that feels like minus 40 degrees.'

'Like a snow shelter, this tent is going to add another

'layer of protection between us and the fierce wind.'

-Wow! Different story in here, isn't it?

-You'd be fine in here.

Out of the wind, it's quite warm.

-You've got to put something between you...

-And the wind.

The stuff that steals your body heat.

And that was good teamwork as well.

-Nice one. Well done, sir.

-Well done. We've survived a blizzard.

-Agh!

'Wow! What an experience!

'I lasted just 45 second in blizzard-strength wind-chill

'in my thermals...'

This is it. This is a proper blizzard!

'..before I had to run for shelter.'

Argh!

'But once I got a warm layer on and we got inside the tent,

'we gave ourselves a chance of survival.'

'This place is so realistic.

'I bet it's pretty similar to what Mike's experiencing right now

'over in the US.'

Back in Boston, it's 9pm and the blizzard is raging.

NEWSREADER: 'In Boston tonight, nine o'clock, heavy snow over the region,

'and look at these winds, 35 to 65mph sustained.'

In the shelter of an underground car park,

I'm checking the latest data on how this monster blizzard is developing.

As fierce as it was outside, we were only in these yellow areas.

These areas is precipitation or basically how heavy the snow is.

But this red area and dark orange - that is where the real action is.

This is telling me that the worst has yet to come.

So, if I thought it was dangerous before, looking at this,

it's about to get really dangerous.

'Time to head out for round two.'

Man, we're getting nailed by this blizzard right now!

Just look at this! This is insane!

I just witnessed a woman getting blown down the street right here.

She had her umbrella and the wind just brought her straight down.

This is easily hurricane force winds

that's basically blowing between these buildings.

It's incredible!

You need things like this just to hold on to

because you'll get blown down the road.

'Keeping your footing is now really difficult.

'Over 40cm of snow has fallen in just eight hours

'and the city centre now looks like a mountain ski resort.'

It's hard to believe that just 12 hours ago, I was right here.

The snow wasn't even sticking, it was a very light snow.

Now look at it! Look at these snowdrifts behind me.

'As snow relentlessly blankets Boston, I have the city

'almost to myself, so I set about documenting this amazing storm.'

'At just after 1am, the winds finally start to ease off.

'I'm still in one piece,

'but all around me there's evidence of the power of this blizzard.'

Wow! Just look at this tree that came down

because of all of the heavy snow. Basically it accumulated

and all that weight snapped the tree like a toothpick.

This is a prime example of just one of the many dangers in a blizzard.

'I'm lucky.

'I'm in a city with buildings to protect me

'from this terrible weather.'

If you can see around me, there's nobody on the streets.

It's completely deserted. Everything is shut down.

There's no way that anybody can even get around.

This city is officially shut down.

'I think it's about time to call it a night.'

Man, this is a tough chase.

This ranks right up there with a big hurricane, for sure.

I'm beat.

'I'm lucky that I'm in a city where there are buildings to protect me

'from this terrible weather.

'Tonight has taught me that your number one priority

'if you're stuck in a blizzard is find shelter.'

No story proves this more than this amazing tale of survival

from the Rocky Mountains in the USA.

17-year-old Justin lives in Colorado in the USA,

where mountains and lakes create the ultimate extreme playground.

While some come for peace and quiet, for Justin,

it's all about hitting the trails on his snowmobile.

When I was seven, my dad bought me my first snowmobile.

It was kind of hard to learn at first and now I enjoy it every day.

One Saturday morning in February 2012,

Justin and two friends had planned an early-morning ride.

A lifelong boy scout, he knew the importance of taking

the correct survival kit out onto the mountain.

The preparations I make before I go out riding is normally

check my bag for all my supplies, check my sled.

At 9am, the boys hit the slopes in perfect blue skies.

But the forecast wasn't good, so Justin let his parents know

he would be back at the car park at 5pm.

We knew there was a storm rolling in,

but we figured we were just going to go for a short little ride,

hit a few meadows and come around way before it hit.

That plan went out the window

when a wrong turn left the group stranded in a ravine in deep snow.

With daylight fading,

Justin called 911 and told rescuers where they were.

But he knew a blizzard was coming.

Justin's survival training kicked in

and he started digging a snow hole for shelter.

And then I piled up all the snow around the edges to block the wind.

He gathered some dry wood and lit a small fire inside.

Back at home, Justin's dad knew there was something wrong.

He was supposed to hit the parking lot at five o'clock

and we didn't get a text message.

That's when the wait started.

Out on the mountain, things were going from bad to worse.

And then, boom, the blizzard hit.

And no warning, nothing. It was just there.

Heavy snowfall and freezing winds swept across mountain.

The snow shelter was now the boys' ONLY means of survival.

It was lining the ground with snow, piling it, piling it, piling it.

Justin and his dad text each other to help direct the rescue teams

searching in near-zero visibility.

But a mile on the mountains and in the woods with blizzard conditions

just as well be 500 miles.

It started to worry us every single hour

because one time they thought that they were near us and they weren't.

Every minute in the cold was now critical.

Imagine trying to stay warm in these terrible conditions.

It was hands blistering, you had to keep them in.

You pulled them out, instantly frozen.

You couldn't move, your whole entire body was froze up, shut down.

Things were desperate.

There was no wood left to burn,

so Justin decided to set fire to his snowmobile,

in the hope the heat would keep them warm for a bit longer.

I only had one match left.

Only having one chance...

..I decided to drop it in the gasoline tank.

We're taught not to do this,

but when you're in the situation we were stuck in, it's do or die.

This was a very dangerous thing to do but Justin had no choice.

As this footage shows, the snowmobile burned well

providing crucial warmth during the dark, cold night.

It paid off.

Because just after dawn, a rescuer appeared through the gloom.

Seeing him was wonderful.

It was probably the best feeling I'm ever going to get.

They were evacuated off the mountain, freezing cold, but safe.

Justin's training had taught him to stay calm...

..call for help,

then create shelter and warmth until help arrived.

I am very proud of him.

He did... He got into the situation,

but once he got there, he knew how to get himself out of it,

and stay alive.

The skills that my father taught me are life-changing.

Without that training, me and my friends, we would've died.

I wouldn't be sitting in front of you.

NEWSREADER: 'Hundreds of thousands are without power

'throughout the region.

'The effects of the storm will be felt for days to come.'

It's the morning after the great Boston blizzard of 2013.

Whoa!

Fancy a bike ride?

The city is a very different place to when I arrived just 18 hours ago.

This is by far the worst blizzard I've ever seen

and I've never seen snowdrifts like this, never.

Only in pictures in books and stuff.

'A massive clean-up is under way.

'But not everybody has a digger to help them out.'

Are you telling me there's a car in there?

-Yes.

-Your car's in there.

-My car is in there.

-Oh, my gosh!

'It's hard to believe how much snow has fallen overnight.'

Look at this massive pile of snow that I'm standing on.

It's as tall as that coffee house over there.

'So, what are the stats?'

The official snowfall total is 63cm.

That's the biggest fall here for ten years.

Hurricane force winds of over 80mph have damaged property and trees.

The icy tentacles of this storm have spread far and wide...

..covering large parts of the country in a white blanket.

Out on the coast, huge waves have battered property,

encasing everything in a beautiful, salty ice.

Everything looks frozen at the height of the blizzard.

But blue skies means this chase is over for me.

The last 36 hours have been a crazy ride.

While four million people retreated to the safety of their homes...

..I went head-first into hurricane strength winds,

biting wind-chill...

and deep snowdrifts.

But, we've come through the other side, and it's incredible how quick

Boston is back on its feet, ready to fight another day.

Well, we made it through the blizzard.

It was not easy and we've learned there's a lot of dangers involved.

I was here documenting it, I prepared, I lived through it.

Mike Theiss signing out.

This frozen Fierce Earth special has revealed that a blizzard can make

minus 15 degrees feel like minus 40.

It can bring a city to a standstill in hours.

But if you prepare before one arrives,

make sure you get some shelter.

You can escape its icy grasp.

Next time on Fierce Earth,

things get wet, as we discover the power of waves and tides.

Claire and Leo get a surf lesson.

And Leah witnesses one of the fastest tides in the world.

It's starting to get a bit scary, actually.