Accumulating questions: What’s a blizzard? Is this El Nino?

This image made available by NASA via Twitter posted on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, by space station commander Scott Kelly, shows a view from the International Space Station of a storm passing over the United States. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday, dumping snow, stranding travelers and shutting down the nation's capital and its largest city. (Scott Kelly/NASA via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT This image made available by NASA via Twitter posted on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, by space station commander Scott Kelly, shows a view from the International Space Station of a storm passing over the United States. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday, dumping snow, stranding travelers and shutting down the nation's capital and its largest city. (Scott Kelly/NASA via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

By Associated Press January 24, 2016 3 min read

KENSINGTON, Md. (AP) – Oh, the weather outside is frightful. Winds will soon turn spiteful. The East has no place to go. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

The massive snowstorm promising more than a foot of snow for a wide swath of the eastern U.S. is all people can talk about. But is it a blizzard? And how did it get so big? Just like the snow, questions pile up. Here are some answers.

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Q: Is there a difference between a snowstorm and a blizzard?

A: Yes. The National Weather Service says a snowstorm becomes a blizzard when it meets a couple of conditions for at least three hours: Sustained wind or gusts of 35 mph or greater, and heavy falling and blowing snow, the type that reduces visibility to less than one-quarter of a mile.