Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Got ice?

Icicles and icy woods
I was awakened at 2:45 a.m. this morning by what sounded like the crashing of several china cabinets, followed soon after by a vibration that shook the entire cabin. An ice-covered tree hit the ground somewhere near the cabin. I didn’t sleep too much after that.

When night lifted, I found more than .25 inch of ice covering everything. The evergreen trees are bent double, some touching the ground. Every twig is encased in ice. The crashing china cabinet sound was a constant this morning, though was mostly branches hitting the ground, not entire trees.

Notice the icy wires
I spent a good hour cleaning off my car, then zig-zagged my way down the mountain, avoiding an obstacle course of downed trees and limbs. Once I reached the lower elevations, the roads were in decent shape, though ice covers everything there too.

The drive to work--after the road conditions improved.  I didn't dare stop to take photos during the drive down the mountain.
I spent a good hour cleaning off my car, then zig-zagged my way down the mountain, avoiding an obstacle course of downed trees and limbs. Once I reached the lower elevations, the roads were in decent shape, though ice covers everything there too.

This storm was very widespread in the eastern half of the U.S., and I imagine an entire legion of bloggers will be doing ice photos today. If you don’t want to see another ice photo, I will understand if you beg off today’s post.
Encased in ice
The storm is past my area now, though the danger may not yet be over. The forecast this afternoon is for strong wind, and if the ice doesn’t melt by the time that starts, the result can only be more power outages and downed trees.

As ice storms go, this one is certainly the worst I’ve seen in several years and is right up there with the worst ever. After going a few years without one, the current day’s storm always seems as though it is the worst ever. The actual level of prior terribleness fades with the passing of years. Whatever is in my face at the moment is always the worst one ever.

6 comments:

Elora said...

Wow! What an ice storm!!!! Lucky the crashing trees were not close to you! You be careful! I remember a bad one here....it was mostly the pines that took a hit.

Elora

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

There has been so much difficult weather across most of the country. I'm glad the ice storm has moved on from your area. It is really beautiful in the sun, though.

Scott said...

A quarter-inch here on the Piedmont, too. Lots of downed trees. I lost power from 10:45 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., but many people had it far worse than I did and I'm not complaining. It's actually partly sunny her right now (4 p.m.), but it's supposed to be cold overnight and tomorrow, so anything that melts will be frozen solid tomorrow.

Jeannette StG said...

Wow, this DOES look severe! Even in Southern California, I heard the whole night the clanging of my chimes, because the wind was so strong. No ice storm though - for which I'm thankful!

Cathy said...

Yikes you got it really bad! I was wondering who got the iced. I hate to say this, I got only a coating of ice up here and three inches of sleet and snow. Hopefully you still have power and no tree hits your cabin.

Carolyn H said...

Elora: Yes, it was quite an ice storm. I did get lucky later, though. Unlike many ice storms where trees stay encased for days, the temperature here warmed up for a few hours around noon so now the ice is gone!

Lynne: The weather this year has been extra goofy. I'm hoping it doesn't follow suit in the spring and summer with flooding and 100+ degree temperatures.

Scott: Amazingly, I did not lose power, which is so unusual for me that it's almost stunning. I lose power so often it's not funny, so to retain power during a storm like this is worthy of note.

Jeannette: the ice is off the trees now--and sits in my driveway, unfortunately. I'll be lucky to get the car back up to the cabin by spring (kidding, I hope)

Cathy: Just 15 miles south of me, all they had was rain. But the Harrisburg/Carlisle area got hit pretty hard with ice.