A blizzard was recorded in Cincinnati area on Friday. What does that mean?

As snow, dangerously cold wind chills, power outages, record-setting drops in temperature and "flash freeze" conditions hit the region Thursday night and Friday, Greater Cincinnati experienced its first blizzard in over a decade.

But what exactly does that mean?

The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as blowing or falling snow with winds of at least 35 miles per hour. The result is reduced visibility to a quarter of a mile or less for three hours or more.

Those criteria were met in observations recorded at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport just after midnight through 3 a.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio.

While some parts of the country were placed under a blizzard warning, a winter storm warning was issued in Greater Cincinnati through Friday afternoon.

So, what's the difference between a blizzard and a winter storm?

While a blizzard is a type of winter storm, winter storm warnings indicate that heavy snow of at least 6 inches in 12 hours, or at least 8 inches in 24 hours, is expected. Warnings can also be issued if sleet accumulation will be at least half an inch, the weather service says.

Forecasters said generally 1 to 4 inches of snow fell across the Cincinnati area overnight.

The storm was also accompanied by record-setting temperature drops.

The airport recorded a 39-degree drop from 44 degrees at 7 p.m. Thursday to 5 degrees at 1 a.m. Friday. CVG has only seen 6-hour temperature drops of 32 degrees or more just nine times since 1948, according to National Weather Service data.

Cincinnati hit -7 degrees at 11 a.m. Friday and the last time it was -5 or colder at noon was Jan. 19, 1994. That same day also featured -30 degree wind chills, the weather service said.

How does Friday's blizzard compare to previous storms?

Greater Cincinnati hasn't experienced a blizzard since 2008. In that storm, the region experienced wind gusts up to 40 mph, with a combination of winds and snowfall that threatened whiteouts, according to a March 8, 2008 Enquirer article.

However, the most infamous blizzard to hit the region happened more than 40 years ago.

The Great Blizzard of 1978 brought snow — just under 7 inches fell in Cincinnati on Jan. 26 and 27. But there was already a huge pile of snow on the ground. The snow was 14 inches deep on Jan. 21.

Then, the blizzard brought near-hurricane strength wind gusts that heaped the snow into enormous drifts. Some snowdrifts reached 15 to 25 feet in height, whipped up by 60 mph winds. Visibility was zero.

More than 70 people died in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana as a result of the epic storm, according to the weather service.

Thousands of trees and many miles of electric and telephone lines were blown down. Hundreds of thousands of homes were left without power and heat, and means of communication. Roofs collapsed under the weight of the snow. Cars were buried and Interstate 75 was closed for three days.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Friday storm officially a blizzard, Cincinnati's first since 2008