On This Day in 1991-- Ice Storm Wreaks Havoc on New York

One part of the U.S. especially susceptible to ice storms, Upstate New York, was crippled by heavy freezing rain on this day 30 years ago.

Although the calendar had flipped over to Meteorological Spring, winter still had a firm grip across Upstate New York in early March of 1991. On the afternoon of March 3, freezing rain began to fall across northern and western New York and the icing would continue through the morning of March 4.

Freezing rain is often considered the most dangerous form of winter weather. When temperatures are above freezing just off the surface, rain can fall. However, if the temperatures on pavement, power lines and trees are at or below freezing, the rain will likely freeze, hence the term freezing rain. If enough freezing rain occurs, trees and power outages can collapse due to the weight of the ice.

Unfortunately, more than enough icing occurred across parts of the state to cause issues from March 3 to 4, 1991. As a matter of fact, some areas picked up one to two inches of ice. Once more than an inch of ice accumulates, catastrophic damage usually results, especially in the form of crippled trees and powerlines.

At the peak of the ice storm, nearly 325,000 customers in northern and western New York were without power as trees and powerlines fell to the ground. When accounting for an average of about 2.6 people per household in New York today, that would mean about 845,000 people, or more than 7 percent of Upstate New Yorkers were without power.

To make matters worse, freezing rain changed to heavy, wet snow and accumulated 4 to 6 inches on top of the ice. This added insult to already weighted down trees and power lines, leading to more damage.

A whole slew of problems resulted from the power outages across the state including stopped sump pumps that led to flooded basements after the ice started to melt. Schools in cities such as Watertown and Rochester, N.Y., were forced to close for the entire week.

Although Meteorological Spring has arrived, winter weather is still common, especially for northern spots. This ice storm in northwest New York is proof how damaging winter storms can be even in the calendar year’s third month.

Source: weather.gov
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Story Image: Ice storms can cause massive destruction to trees and powerlines (pixabay.com).