Ice storm
Encyclopedia
An ice storm is a type of winter storm
characterized by freezing rain
, also known as a glaze event or in some parts of the United States as a silver thaw. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least 0.25 inch (0.635 cm) of ice on exposed surfaces. From 1982 to 1994, ice storms were more common than blizzard
s and averaged 16 per year.
Ice storms occur when a layer of warm air is between two layers of cold air. Frozen precipitation
melts while falling into the warm air layer, and then proceeds to refreeze in the cold layer above the ground. If the precipitate is partially melted, it will land on the ground as sleet
. However, if the warm layer completely melts the precipitate, becoming rain, the liquid droplets will continue to fall, and pass through a thin layer of cold air just above the surface. This thin layer of air then cools the rain to a temperature below freezing (0 °C). However, the drops themselves do not freeze, a phenomenon called supercooling
(or forming "supercooled drops"). When the supercooled drops strike ground below 0 °C or anything else below 0 °C (power lines, tree branches, aircraft), they instantly freeze, forming a thin film of ice, hence freezing rain.
While meteorologists can predict when and where an ice storm will occur, some storms still occur with little or no warning. Most ice storms are thought to form primarily in the north-eastern US, but damaging storms have occurred farther south. An ice storm in February 1994 resulted in tremendous ice accumulation as far south as Mississippi, and caused reported damage in nine states. More timber was damaged than that caused by Hurricane Camille
. An ice storm in eastern Washington in November 1996 directly followed heavy snowfall. The combined weight of the snow and 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in) to 37 millimetres (1.5 in) of ice caused considerable widespread damage. This was considered to be the most severe ice storm in the Spokane
area since 1940.
The freezing rain from an ice storm covers everything with heavy, smooth glaze ice
. Ice-covered roads become slippery and hazardous, as the ice causes vehicles to skid out of control, which can cause devastating car crashes as well as pile-ups. Pedestrians are severely affected as sidewalks become slippery, causing people to slip and fall, and outside stairs can become an extreme injury hazard.
In addition to hazardous driving or walking conditions, branches or even whole trees may break from the weight of ice.
Falling branches can block roads, tear down power and telephone lines, and cause other damage. Even without falling trees and tree branches, the weight of the ice itself can easily snap power lines and also break and bring down power/utility poles; even steel frame electricity pylon
s have been sent crashing to the ground by the weight of the ice. This can leave people without power for anywhere from several days to a month. According to most meteorologists, just one quarter of an inch of ice accumulation can add about 500 pounds of weight per line span. Damage from ice storms is highly capable of shutting down entire metropolitan areas.
Additionally, the loss of power during ice storms has indirectly caused numerous illnesses and deaths due to unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. At lower levels, CO poisoning causes symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and headache, but high levels can cause unconsciousness, heart failure, and death. The relatively high incidence of CO poisoning during ice storms occurs due to the use of alternative methods of heating and cooking during prolonged power outages, common during severe ice storms. Gas generators, charcoal and propane barbecues, and kerosene heaters contribute to CO poisoning when they operate in confined locations. CO is produced when appliances burn fuel without enough oxygen present, such as basements and other indoor locations.
Loss of electricity during ice storms can also easily lead to hypothermia and even death from hypothermia. It can also lead to ruptured pipes due to water freezing inside the pipes.
set a record for thickest recorded ice accumulation from a single storm in the United States, at 8 inches.
In 1994, a severe ice storm caused over $1 billion in damage in the Southern United States in February 1994, primarily in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.
The North American ice storm of 1998
occurred during January 5–9, 1998. It was one of the most damaging and costly ice storms in North American history. The storm caused massive power failures in several large cities on the East Coast of the United States
. The most affected area was extreme eastern Ontario
and southwestern Quebec
in Canada
, where over 3 million people were without power for up to a month and a half. Whole trees snapped and electrical pylons were completely flattened under the weight of the accumulated ice.
The Northeastern United States
was impacted by a major ice storm on December 11–12, 2008
, which left about 1.25 million homes and businesses without power. Areas impacted with 3/4" to 1" of ice accumulation included eastern New York
in the Albany
area, central
and western Massachusetts
, southern New Hampshire
, coastal and south-central Maine
, Pennsylvania
in the Pocono Mountains
region, northwestern Connecticut
, and southern Vermont
. Southern New Hampshire and northernmost Massachusetts got hit the worst with the storm with ice accumulations ranging from 1.5 in to 3 in of ice. This left residents unable to get supplies, go to work etc. due to blocked roads from trees that fell on the roads. Any trees that fell quickly took down power poles. It took utility crews from 4 to as much as 16 days to get a look at the damage and start to restore power to nearly 1.3 million people. In all there were 675,000 residents in New Hampshire without power and around 500,000 in northern Massachusetts
In late January, 2009, ice storms
covered several U.S. states, including Arkansas
and Kentucky
. Most areas affected saw over 2" of ice accumulation, and between 1"–5" of snow on top of the ice. This ice storm left well over 2 million people without power at its peak and killed 55 people, 24 in Kentucky. Rural Water Associations in Arkansas and Kentucky activated emergency response plans to deal with power loss to small water utilities across their states. Neighboring state Rural Water Associations, including experienced emergency responders from Louisiana and Florida, loaned equipment and manpower to assist the hardest-hit areas.
During the unusually severe winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom
, heavy snow had fallen over much of the country in late December and early January. By the second week of January, many of the roads and pavements had been cleared by local councils due to the use of rock salt gritting. However, during the early hours of 12 January, a wet front moved across the country, causing freezing rain and heavy ice glaze, particularly in the South and West Yorkshire
areas of Northern England (crucially, this rainfall had stopped before first light). When the local population prepared to set out for work and school, they saw from their windows what appeared to be clear roads and pavements but were in fact treacherous sheets of black ice
. Cars and buses almost immediately encounted extreme difficulty, and emergency services were called to dozens of accidents. Pedestrians in the village of Holmfirth
found the only safe way to proceed was to crawl on all fours. Accident and emergency units at hospitals in the Sheffield
, Rotherham
, and Barnsley
areas found themselves inundated by people with broken bones, fractures, and sprains, and many schools were closed as it was judged unsafe for pupils to attempt to make their way there.
On December 25, 2010, freezing rain fell on Moscow
and vicinity. The glaze ice accumulation caused a number of accidents and power outages, of which the most serious was damage caused to two power lines feeding Domodedovo Airport, causing a complete blackout of the airport and express railway that connected it to the city. As a result, the airport was shut down and hundreds of passengers were stranded inside, with taxi drivers charging up to 10,000 rubles (USD 330) for a one-hour drive to the city. Other city airports, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, where air traffic was re-routed and amid heavy snowfall that followed ice rain, collapsed a day later, causing a full air transport collapse.
Winter storm
A winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form...
characterized by freezing rain
Freezing rain
Freezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air, many hundred feet , just above the surface, and then freeze upon impact with any object they encounter. The resulting...
, also known as a glaze event or in some parts of the United States as a silver thaw. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least 0.25 inch (0.635 cm) of ice on exposed surfaces. From 1982 to 1994, ice storms were more common than blizzard
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...
s and averaged 16 per year.
Formation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
melts while falling into the warm air layer, and then proceeds to refreeze in the cold layer above the ground. If the precipitate is partially melted, it will land on the ground as sleet
Rain and snow mixed
Rain and snow mixed is precipitation composed of rain and partially melted snow. This precipitation can occur where the temperature in the lower part of the atmosphere is slightly above the freezing point...
. However, if the warm layer completely melts the precipitate, becoming rain, the liquid droplets will continue to fall, and pass through a thin layer of cold air just above the surface. This thin layer of air then cools the rain to a temperature below freezing (0 °C). However, the drops themselves do not freeze, a phenomenon called supercooling
Supercooling
Supercooling, also known as undercooling, is the process of lowering the temperature of a liquid or a gas below its freezing point without it becoming a solid....
(or forming "supercooled drops"). When the supercooled drops strike ground below 0 °C or anything else below 0 °C (power lines, tree branches, aircraft), they instantly freeze, forming a thin film of ice, hence freezing rain.
While meteorologists can predict when and where an ice storm will occur, some storms still occur with little or no warning. Most ice storms are thought to form primarily in the north-eastern US, but damaging storms have occurred farther south. An ice storm in February 1994 resulted in tremendous ice accumulation as far south as Mississippi, and caused reported damage in nine states. More timber was damaged than that caused by Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille was the third and strongest tropical cyclone and second hurricane during the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. The second of three catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century , which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River...
. An ice storm in eastern Washington in November 1996 directly followed heavy snowfall. The combined weight of the snow and 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in) to 37 millimetres (1.5 in) of ice caused considerable widespread damage. This was considered to be the most severe ice storm in the Spokane
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
area since 1940.
Effect
Glaze ice
Glaze ice or simply glaze is a smooth, transparent and homogenous ice coating occurring when freezing rain or drizzle hits a surface. It is similar in appearance to clear ice, which forms from supercooled water droplets...
. Ice-covered roads become slippery and hazardous, as the ice causes vehicles to skid out of control, which can cause devastating car crashes as well as pile-ups. Pedestrians are severely affected as sidewalks become slippery, causing people to slip and fall, and outside stairs can become an extreme injury hazard.
In addition to hazardous driving or walking conditions, branches or even whole trees may break from the weight of ice.
Falling branches can block roads, tear down power and telephone lines, and cause other damage. Even without falling trees and tree branches, the weight of the ice itself can easily snap power lines and also break and bring down power/utility poles; even steel frame electricity pylon
Electricity pylon
A transmission tower is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. They are used in high-voltage AC and DC systems, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes...
s have been sent crashing to the ground by the weight of the ice. This can leave people without power for anywhere from several days to a month. According to most meteorologists, just one quarter of an inch of ice accumulation can add about 500 pounds of weight per line span. Damage from ice storms is highly capable of shutting down entire metropolitan areas.
Additionally, the loss of power during ice storms has indirectly caused numerous illnesses and deaths due to unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. At lower levels, CO poisoning causes symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and headache, but high levels can cause unconsciousness, heart failure, and death. The relatively high incidence of CO poisoning during ice storms occurs due to the use of alternative methods of heating and cooking during prolonged power outages, common during severe ice storms. Gas generators, charcoal and propane barbecues, and kerosene heaters contribute to CO poisoning when they operate in confined locations. CO is produced when appliances burn fuel without enough oxygen present, such as basements and other indoor locations.
Loss of electricity during ice storms can also easily lead to hypothermia and even death from hypothermia. It can also lead to ruptured pipes due to water freezing inside the pipes.
| Sensitivity to sap Sap Sap may refer to:* Plant sap, the fluid transported in xylem cells or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant* Sap , a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia... coloration |
Resistance to ice damage to crown Crown (botany) The crown of a plant refers to the totality of the plant's aboveground parts, including stems, leaves, and reproductive structures. A plant canopy consists of one or more plant crowns growing in a given area.... |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Low or average | Average or strong | Strong | |
Sensitive |
|
American Beech Fagus grandifolia, also known as American Beech or North american beech, is a species of beech native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States. Trees in the... (Fagus grandifolia) Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests... s White Pine -Trees:* Trees in the pine subgenus Pinus subgenus Strobus** Eastern White Pine , one of these species, native to northeastern North America... s Apple The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring... Tilia cordata Tilia cordata is a species of Tilia native to much of Europe and western Asia, north to southern Great Britain , central Scandinavia, east to central Russia, and south to central Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, and the Caucasus; in the south of its range it is restricted to... (Tilia cordata) Crataegus Crataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,... |
Spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical... s |
|
Insensitive |
|
Bitternut Hickory Carya cordiformis, the Bitternut Hickory, also called bitternut or swamp hickory, is a large pecan hickory with commercial stands located mostly north of the other pecan hickories. Bitternut hickory is cut and sold in mixture with the true hickories. It is the shortest lived of the hickories,... (Carya cordiformis) Tree of heaven Ailanthus altissima , commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, or in Standard Chinese as chouchun , is a deciduous tree in the Simaroubaceae family. It is native to both northeast and central China and Taiwan. Unlike other members of the genus Ailanthus, it is found in temperate climates rather... (Ailanthus altissima) Fraxinus nigra Fraxinus nigra is a species of Fraxinus native to much of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, from western Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Illinois and northern Virginia.... (Fraxinus nigra) Shagbark Hickory Carya ovata, the Shagbark Hickory, is a common hickory in the eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large deciduous tree, growing up to 27 m tall, and will live up to 200 years. Mature Shagbarks are easy to recognize because, as their name implies, they have shaggy bark... (Carya ovata) |
White oak Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the Fagaceae family, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been... (Quercus alba) Ostrya Ostrya is a genus of eight to ten small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Its common name is Hophornbeam in American English and Hop-hornbeam in British English. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants.The genus is native in southern... Hornbeam Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus . Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae, modern botanists place the hornbeams in the birch subfamily Coryloideae... |
Notable ice storms
An ice storm which struck northern Idaho in January 1961North American ice storm of January 1961
The North American ice storm of January 1961 was a massive ice storm that struck areas of northern Idaho in the United States on January 1-3, 1961. The storm set a record for thickest recorded ice accumulation from a single storm in the United States, at 8 inches.The storm's swath covered...
set a record for thickest recorded ice accumulation from a single storm in the United States, at 8 inches.
In 1994, a severe ice storm caused over $1 billion in damage in the Southern United States in February 1994, primarily in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.
The North American ice storm of 1998
North American ice storm of 1998
The North American ice storm of 1998 was a massive combination of five smaller successive ice storms which combined to strike a relatively narrow swath of land from eastern Ontario to southern Quebec to Nova Scotia in Canada, and bordering areas from northern New York to central Maine in the...
occurred during January 5–9, 1998. It was one of the most damaging and costly ice storms in North American history. The storm caused massive power failures in several large cities on the East Coast of the United States
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
. The most affected area was extreme eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
and southwestern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where over 3 million people were without power for up to a month and a half. Whole trees snapped and electrical pylons were completely flattened under the weight of the accumulated ice.
The Northeastern United States
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
was impacted by a major ice storm on December 11–12, 2008
December 2008 Northeast ice storm
The December 2008 ice storm of New England and Upstate New York was a damaging ice storm that took out power for millions of people in those regions. The storm was deemed the worst ice storm in a decade for New England and the most severe in 21 years for Upstate New York...
, which left about 1.25 million homes and businesses without power. Areas impacted with 3/4" to 1" of ice accumulation included eastern New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
area, central
Central Massachusetts
Central Massachusetts is the geographically central region of Massachusetts. Though definitions vary, most include all of Worcester County and the northwest corner of Middlesex County. Worcester, the largest city in the area and the seat of Worcester County, is often considered the cultural capital...
and western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
, southern New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, coastal and south-central Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the Pocono Mountains
The Poconos
The Pocono Mountains is a region located in northeastern Pennsylvania, United States. The Poconos, located chiefly in Monroe and Pike counties , are an upland of the larger Allegheny Plateau...
region, northwestern Connecticut
Litchfield Hills
The Litchfield Hills is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Connecticut located in the northwestern corner of the state. It is a term that is roughly coterminous with the boundaries of Litchfield County, for which it is named...
, and southern Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. Southern New Hampshire and northernmost Massachusetts got hit the worst with the storm with ice accumulations ranging from 1.5 in to 3 in of ice. This left residents unable to get supplies, go to work etc. due to blocked roads from trees that fell on the roads. Any trees that fell quickly took down power poles. It took utility crews from 4 to as much as 16 days to get a look at the damage and start to restore power to nearly 1.3 million people. In all there were 675,000 residents in New Hampshire without power and around 500,000 in northern Massachusetts
In late January, 2009, ice storms
January 2009 Central Plains and Midwest ice storm
The January 2009 ice storm was a major ice storm that occurred over parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The storm produced widespread power outages for over 2 million people due to heavy ice accumulation...
covered several U.S. states, including Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. Most areas affected saw over 2" of ice accumulation, and between 1"–5" of snow on top of the ice. This ice storm left well over 2 million people without power at its peak and killed 55 people, 24 in Kentucky. Rural Water Associations in Arkansas and Kentucky activated emergency response plans to deal with power loss to small water utilities across their states. Neighboring state Rural Water Associations, including experienced emergency responders from Louisiana and Florida, loaned equipment and manpower to assist the hardest-hit areas.
During the unusually severe winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom
Winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom
The winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom was a meteorological event that started on 16 December 2009, as part of the severe winter weather in Europe. January 2010 was provisionally the coldest January since 1987 across the country...
, heavy snow had fallen over much of the country in late December and early January. By the second week of January, many of the roads and pavements had been cleared by local councils due to the use of rock salt gritting. However, during the early hours of 12 January, a wet front moved across the country, causing freezing rain and heavy ice glaze, particularly in the South and West Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
areas of Northern England (crucially, this rainfall had stopped before first light). When the local population prepared to set out for work and school, they saw from their windows what appeared to be clear roads and pavements but were in fact treacherous sheets of black ice
Black ice
Black ice, sometimes called glare ice or clear ice, refers to a thin coating of glazed ice on a surface.While not truly black, it is virtually transparent, allowing black asphalt/macadam roadways to be seen through it, hence the term "black ice"...
. Cars and buses almost immediately encounted extreme difficulty, and emergency services were called to dozens of accidents. Pedestrians in the village of Holmfirth
Holmfirth
Holmfirth is a small town located on the A6024 Woodhead Road in the Holme Valley, within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Centred upon the confluence of the Holme and Ribble rivers, Holmfirth is south of Huddersfield and from Glossop. It mostly consists of...
found the only safe way to proceed was to crawl on all fours. Accident and emergency units at hospitals in the Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, and Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
areas found themselves inundated by people with broken bones, fractures, and sprains, and many schools were closed as it was judged unsafe for pupils to attempt to make their way there.
On December 25, 2010, freezing rain fell on Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and vicinity. The glaze ice accumulation caused a number of accidents and power outages, of which the most serious was damage caused to two power lines feeding Domodedovo Airport, causing a complete blackout of the airport and express railway that connected it to the city. As a result, the airport was shut down and hundreds of passengers were stranded inside, with taxi drivers charging up to 10,000 rubles (USD 330) for a one-hour drive to the city. Other city airports, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, where air traffic was re-routed and amid heavy snowfall that followed ice rain, collapsed a day later, causing a full air transport collapse.
See also
- Freezing rainFreezing rainFreezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air, many hundred feet , just above the surface, and then freeze upon impact with any object they encounter. The resulting...
- 2005 Atlantic Power Outage
- Ice pruningIce pruningIce pruning is the natural process of selective vegetative pruning on the windward side of a plant, executed by the impact of ice and snow particles driven by wind. The process is sometimes termed snow pruning...
- List of ice storms
- Power outagePower outageA power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
External links
- Ice Storms
- Gallery of Ice Storm Photos
- US Economic Costs of Ice Storms NOAA Economics