In today’s
society there are differences in many communities. These communities are on
both the east and west coast, and in the Midwest. The residents of these
communities experience various weather climates ranging from warm temperatures
to blizzards and ice storms.
why ice storms
Happen?
An ice storm
happens when a warm air mass collides with a cold air mass. Many ice storms
happen every year. They include cold temperatures, precipitation, and strong
winds. The process of an ice storm is when some water vapor from the warm air
condenses into clouds. Snowflakes fall from the clouds into the warm air and
melts into raindrops. Th rain drops fall through a cold air layer near the
ground and doesn't freeze thoroughly until it hits something colder that it.
This can get up to 8 inches thick! Sleet is similar to frozen rain but it
doesn't cause as severe damage. It can easily be shoveled off of sidewalks and
streets.
v Ice accumulates when super-cold rain freezes on contact with
surfaces, such as tree branches, that are below freezing point.
v Throughout the U.S., ice storms occur most often during the
months of December and January, usually during the coldest part of the day:
sunrise.
v Ice storms have the bizarre effect of entombing everything in
the landscape with a glaze of ice so heavy that it can split trees in half and
turn roads and pavements into lethal sheets of smooth, thick ice.
v Branches or whole trees may break from the weight of ice. Fallen
branches can block roadways, tear down power and telephone lines, and cause
other serious and minor damage.
v The weight of ice can easily snap power lines and break or bring
down power/utility poles, leaving homes without power for anywhere from a day
to a month.
v According to most meteorologists, just one quarter of an inch of
ice accumulation can add 500 pounds of weight per line span. Ice storms are
capable of shutting down entire cities with damage.
v Driving during an ice storm is extremely hazardous, because ice
can cause vehicles to skid out of control, leading to devastating car crashes.
v Pedestrians must be cautious as sidewalks become icy and it is
easy to slip and fall. Stairways also become an extreme injury hazard once
coated with ice.
Worst ice storms in
history
One of the damaging and costly ice storms in recent history
struck North America in January, 1998. Phone and power lines collapsed,
electricity pylons buckled, and 4 million people were left without power. 25
people were killed by falling ice or fires set by collapsing electrical units.
The total damage cost around $1 billion.
The major ice storm that struck the Northeastern U.S. in
December, 2008 left 1.25 million homes and businesses without power. In what
was described as the worst storm of the decade, a state of emergency was
declared in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and parts of Maine.
Winter
Storm Pax: Power Outages Remain in South Carolina, Georgia
Winter Storm Pax has long since passed through the South, but
some residents of Georgia and South Carolina are still in the dark following
the storm.
About 100,000 utility customers have awoken to a fifth day
without power in South Carolina.
New
England 1921
one of the most prominent ice storm alleys in the U.S. is the
interior Northeast, from northern Pennsylvania, central and upstate New York
into New England.
In the days after Thanksgiving 1921, a four-day ice storm with
accumulations over three inches in spots, crippled parts of New England,
including the city of Worcester.
New
Year's Eve 1978 (North Texas)
There have been many ice storms in Texas history.
Six inches of ice accumulated in parts of northwest Texas on
Jan. 22-24, 1940, according to Weather Underground's Christopher Burt.
New Year's Eve 1978 was the worst ice storm in North Texas in
three decades, producing ice accumulations up to 2 inches thick in a 100
mile-wide swath from just west of Waco to Paris, Texas.
January
2000 (Atlanta)
The timing couldn't have been worse, and the impact of this ice
storm continues to this day in Atlanta.
The week before Super Bowl XXXIV, an ice storm left half a
million customers without power, some for more than a week. Just days later,
another winter storm hit Atlanta on Super Bowl weekend.
New
Year's 1961 (Northern Idaho)
The most destructive ice storms feature heavy ice accumulation,
sometimes on the order of several inches, that, when combined with strong
winds, bring down trees and power lines, plunge hundreds of thousands into the
dark sometimes for several days.