Learning how to prepare for a winter storm comes down to four jobs: read the forecast, stock the house, keep everyone warm safely and know what to do once the snow starts. Get those four right, and a winter storm becomes a few quiet days at home with your family.
Most households already have part of this in place: a pantry, some blankets and a flashlight in a drawer. Those pieces can grow into a plan that carries you through a three day snowstorm and, with a little more depth, a one week power outage after an ice storm. The plan works whether you live in deep snow country or somewhere a hard freeze shows up once a decade.
Start by checking your local forecast this week and learning the alert levels the National Weather Service uses, because every other step keys off them.
Read the Forecast: Watches, Warnings and Wind Chill
Learning the alert levels gives you hours or days of head start. Reading the forecast is the first step in how to prepare for a winter storm. The National Weather Service advises anyone in snow-prone areas to learn its winter terms, so a warning reads like a clear timetable. Each alert pairs with an action, followed by the types of ice and where storms hit hardest.
Hazardous Weather Outlook
An outlook flags possible severe winter weather three to seven days out. Use it to check your kit, refill prescriptions and buy what is missing while stores are calm.
Winter Weather Advisory
An advisory means snow, sleet or freezing rain will cause trouble short of a full storm. Leave extra travel time and keep your gas tank full.
Winter Storm Watch
A watch means a major storm is possible, usually 12 to 48 hours away. Finish your shopping, charge phones and power banks, and bring in anything the wind could carry off.
Winter Storm Warning
A warning means heavy snow, sleet or ice is falling or about to start. The snowfall threshold varies by region. A warning in Atlanta calls for less snow than one in Buffalo. Get home, stay home and settle in.
Blizzard Warning
A blizzard warning calls for winds of 35 mph or more with blowing snow. That snow cuts visibility to a quarter mile or less for at least three hours. Whiteouts like this make even a short drive dangerous. Keep everyone indoors until the warning lifts, and learn the blizzard safety tips that see a family through one.
Wind Chill
We define wind chill as how cold the air feels on bare skin once wind strips away body heat. A 10 degree day with a 20 mph wind feels like minus 9. The Weather Service issues a Cold Weather Advisory or an Extreme Cold Warning when wind chills turn dangerous. Cover every inch of skin before you step out under either one.
Sleet and Freezing Rain
Sleet forms when snow melts in a warm layer high up, then refreezes into ice pellets before it lands. The pellets bounce and pile up, and they give tires a little grip. Freezing rain falls through a deeper warm layer and stays liquid until it hits a frozen surface. Then it coats roads, trees and power lines in a glaze of ice. A quarter inch of glaze can snap limbs and drop lines. That is why an Ice Storm Warning often means a power outage.
Where Storms Hit Hardest
The snowiest states in the US sit across the Northeast, the Great Lakes snowbelts, the Rockies and Alaska. There, storms are routine and towns are built for them. Preppers in snow country restock every fall and have the car ready by November. If you live in the South or Southwest, storms are rare, and homes and power grids are built for heat. That rarity is also an asset. A small kit stocked once covers the few storms you will see, and it costs little.
Lessons From Texas 2021
The February 2021 Texas winter storm showed what deep cold does to a region that rarely sees it. Power plants and gas supplies failed, and millions of homes lost power for days. The state counted 246 deaths, many from hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning. The households that did best had water stored, warm layers on hand and a safe way to heat one room. Those three things are the core of how to prepare for a winter storm anywhere.
How to Prepare for a Winter Storm at Home
A stocked house lets you ride out the storm without a trip into it. Big storms can close roads for days. Plan for at least three days on your own, and a full week if ice storms are common where you live. This is the home side of how to prepare for a winter storm: the kit first, then the house itself.
Water
Store one gallon per person per day. That is three gallons each for a three day storm and seven for a week. Add water for pets. Before the storm, fill a clean bathtub for flushing toilets and washing if the pipes freeze. If supplies run low, melt snow, filter out debris and boil it before drinking. Melt it fully first, since eating snow lowers your core temperature.
Food
Lay in food your family already eats that needs no cooking. Canned stew, peanut butter, crackers, cereal, dried fruit and shelf-stable milk all work. Pick foods you can eat cold, so losing the stove costs you nothing. If the storm runs long, eat smaller meals spread through the day to stretch your supply.
Light, Power and News
Pack a flashlight or headlamp for each person, plus spare batteries. Add a battery or hand-crank NOAA weather radio. Charge phones and power banks as soon as a watch goes out. The radio keeps you updated on roads and outages if cell service drops.
Medicine and First Aid
Refill prescriptions before the storm and keep a week on hand. Stock a first-aid kit with pain relievers, cold medicine and supplies for any special conditions in your family. If someone relies on powered medical equipment, line up backup power now. Then tell your utility, since many flag those homes for priority repair.
Children and Pets
Pack diapers, formula, kitty litter and a week of pet food. Add cards, books and board games. A box of new activities turns a dark house into an adventure for the kids.
Frozen Pipes
Learning how to keep pipes from freezing saves you a flooded floor. Keep the thermostat at 55 degrees or higher. Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, and let faucets drip on the coldest nights. Find your main water shutoff valve now and tag it. If a pipe bursts, you can stop the water in seconds.
The House Itself
Trim branches that hang over the roof, windows or power lines, since ice-loaded limbs cause much of the damage. Check the roof for weak spots and clear the gutters so meltwater drains. Park cars in the garage or cover them.
A Week Without Power
Ice storm preparation means planning for an outage that lasts days after the sky clears. Crews restore lines one street at a time. Stretch your water and food to a week, store fuel for any generator and pick one room to heat. If you have a fireplace or wood stove, stack dry wood. If you have neither, blankets and layered clothing will carry the house.
Keep Warm Safely: Heat, Layers and Hypothermia
Staying warm without fire or fumes keeps your whole family safe in a cold house. Three dangers follow the cold indoors: carbon monoxide, house fires and hypothermia. Each one has a simple fix, and handling all three is a big part of how to prepare for a winter storm. Safe heat comes first, then clothing, then the warning signs to watch.
Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas made by burning fuel, and cases spike during outages. Run generators, grills and camp stoves outdoors only, at least 20 feet from doors and windows. Open the chimney flue before you light a fire. Put a battery-powered CO alarm on every level and outside bedrooms, and test it before the storm. If it sounds, get everyone outside and call 911. Learn the early signs of carbon monoxide poisoning: headache, dizziness, nausea and confusion, often in several people at once.
House Fires
Space heaters, candles and fireplaces work overtime during storms, and house fires rise with them. Keep space heaters three feet from anything that burns. Plug them straight into the wall, and switch them off when you sleep or leave the room. Choose flashlights over candles. Keep a fire extinguisher within reach and test the smoke alarms along with the CO alarms.
Heat One Room
Close off unused rooms and gather everyone in one small room with few windows. Hang blankets over windows and doorways, and lay towels along the gaps under doors. A larger family is more mouths to feed and also more body heat in one room. A tent or blanket fort on the floor holds that warmth around sleepers.
Dress in Layers
Several light layers beat one heavy coat, because you can add or shed them as you warm up or cool down.
- Base layer. Snug long underwear in wool or synthetic fabric pulls sweat off your skin and keeps you dry.
- Mid layer. Fleece or wool traps body heat, and a second one goes on when the wind picks up.
- Outer shell. A waterproof jacket with a hood and waterproof pants let snow and sleet slide off instead of soaking in.
- Hands. Mittens keep hands warmer than gloves, and a thin liner glove under a waterproof mitten gives you warmth and dexterity.
- Head and neck. A fleece-lined hat with ear flaps and a neck gaiter or scarf cover the skin the wind hits first.
- Eyes. Snow goggles seal out wind and blowing snow so you can see while you shovel or walk.
Change out of wet clothes as soon as you come inside. Damp fabric pulls heat from your body fast.
Hypothermia
We define hypothermia as a body temperature below 95 degrees, down from a normal 98.6. Learn the signs of hypothermia: shivering, fumbling hands, slurred speech, confusion and drowsiness. Babies may show bright red, cold skin and very low energy. Young children and older adults chill fastest, so check on them often. If someone shows signs, move them somewhere warm and swap wet clothes for dry ones. Warm the center of the body first: chest, neck, head and groin. Give warm drinks only if they are alert, and call 911 if their temperature reads below 95.
Frostbite
Frostbite symptoms show up first on fingers, toes, ears, nose and cheeks. The skin turns numb, looks white or grayish-yellow and feels firm or waxy. Warm the area gently in warm water and get medical care for anything beyond simple redness.
During and After the Storm
Knowing your moves for each place keeps you safe wherever the storm finds you. The plan changes at home, in a car or out in the open. Each place gets a short checklist, followed by the cleanup that comes after.
Indoors
Home is the best place to be, especially with a stocked kit. Stay in, keep the radio on and stick to your one-room heat plan. Call elderly neighbors to check on them. Keep outside furnace and dryer vents clear of drifts, since a buried vent can push carbon monoxide back inside.
In a Vehicle
Safe winter driving tips are part of how to prepare for a winter storm, and they start before you leave. Check the forecast, fill the tank and carry a winter car kit with blankets, water, snacks, a shovel, a scraper and a phone charger. If you get stranded, stay with the car. It is shelter, and rescuers spot a car far more easily than a person on foot. Run the engine about 10 minutes each hour for heat. Clear snow from the tailpipe first so exhaust stays outside, and crack a window on the side away from the wind. Tie bright cloth to the antenna and turn on the dome light at night so crews can find you. Move your arms and legs to keep blood flowing.
Caught Outside
If a blizzard catches you on foot or at camp, find or build shelter right away and stay in it. Keep your group together, stay dry and drink water. Ration the food you carry. Once the storm clears, decide whether to wait for help or bug out on your own. Get medical care for any signs of cold injury.
The film Infinite Storm tells the true story of Pam Bales, a hiker caught by a sudden storm on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. She finds a stranded stranger near the summit and works to get them both down alive. The film shows how fast a clear morning turns into a whiteout, and why staying dry and keeping moving matter so much on foot.
Roads and Outages
The danger outlasts the snow. Treat every downed line as live and report it to your utility. Expect black ice on roads and walkways, especially at dawn and on bridges. Wait to drive until crews have cleared the main routes. Keep generators outside for the whole outage.
Shoveling and Heart Attacks
Heart attacks rise after big snowstorms, and shoveling is a known trigger. Cold air tightens blood vessels while heavy lifting spikes your heart rate. Push snow instead of lifting it, take small loads, rest often and drink water. Shovel fresh snow before it packs down. If you have heart trouble, hand the shovel to a neighbor or a teen and pay in cocoa. Stop and call 911 for chest pain, shortness of breath or pain in the arm or jaw.
Survey the Damage
Walk the property for burst pipes, roof leaks, ice dams and fallen limbs. Photograph damage before you clean up, for insurance. Restock what you used while the lessons are fresh, so the kit is ready for the next storm.
Make It a Family Plan
Preparedness sticks when the whole family knows the plan. Set a meeting place in case you get separated, list everyone's emergency contacts and include the pets. Getting kids involved is the last piece of how to prepare for a winter storm, and winter survival movies make an easy start. Watch one together, then ask what the characters should have packed. Afterward, walk the house and let each child find the flashlights.
