1972 Iran blizzard
|name=. Remove this parameter; the article title is used as the name by default.People helping a crashed car some days before the height of 1972 Iran blizzard | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | February 3, 1972 |
| Dissipated | February 9, 1972 |
| Blizzard | |
| Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | 8 m (26 ft) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | ≥ 4,000 (Deadliest winter storm on record) |
| Damage | ≥ $20 million |
The Iran blizzard of February 1972 was the deadliest blizzard in history, as recorded by the Guinness Book of Records. A week-long period of low temperatures and severe winter storms, lasting 3–9 days in February 1972, resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 people. Storms dumped more than 7.9 metres (25 ft 11 in) of snow across rural areas in northwestern, central and southern Iran. The blizzard came after four years of drought.
Southern Iran received as much as 7.9 metres (26 ft) of snow, burying at least 4,000 individuals. According to contemporary reports by the newspaper Ettela'at, the city of Ardakan and outlying villages were hardest hit, with no survivors in Kakkan or Kumar. In the northwest, near the border with Turkey, the village of Shaklabad and its 100 inhabitants were buried. According to some experts, about 200 villages were buried under the snow and completely erased from the map.