[identity profile] davidschroth.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Reminds me of the big storm we had in Minneapolis this year, only with snow and ice.

Not actually being from Minnesota, I am of the opinion that added snow and ice do not improve matters.

[identity profile] neowolf2.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Reminds me of the ice storm in Rochester, NY in 1991. Woke up to the power out and tree limbs exploding.

Rochester lost 40% of its trees in that storm. Any estimate on what fraction Toronto lost?
ext_3718: (Default)

[identity profile] agent-mimi.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
That balloon picture was awesome.

We had an ice storm a few years ago with similar results, but over a much smaller area.

[identity profile] alyxyn.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
That is astounding.

[identity profile] dewline.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
The coffee cup amuses.

Several of the others are disturbing in terms of the awe they inspire.

Would that streets as skating rinks was something that had been planned instead of an accident.

[identity profile] mmegaera.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
My word. I sincerely hope there were no deaths.

[identity profile] graydon saunders (from livejournal.com) 2013-12-24 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
There have certainly been some and it's unlikely they've all been reported yet.

For cutting the power to a couple major hospitals, not anything like as bad as it could have been.

[identity profile] mmcirvin.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
One winter when I was at William and Mary, Williamsburg got a combined snow/ice storm with several inches of snow, followed by a crust of freezing rain like this one on top of the lumpy snow.

The ice was thick enough that you couldn't step through it (though it would have been a hazard to ankles if you could). It became literally impossible to walk upright in Williamsburg, and driving wasn't a good idea either. People were getting around by crawling on all fours.


[identity profile] dcseain.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
That brings back fond memories of many an ice storm through the years. :)
We lost a white birch (which don't grow so well here to start with) in a series of two ice storms a few days apart many, many moons ago.

[identity profile] dcseain.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a common weather pattern here around DC too -- ice-snow-ice, snow-ice, snow-ice-snow; winter precipitation is always an adventure.

Unfortunately

[identity profile] james-nicoll.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
At least two that I know of so far, from CO inhalation.

[identity profile] awesomeaud.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Funny how we never get just plain freezing rain anymore. It's always an "ice storm" instead.

[identity profile] anton-p-nym.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm in Mississauga right now visiting family for the holidays, and if you ignore the implications the scene is quite pretty with sunlight glinting off the frozen branches. However, given that there are a half-dozen trees down in the three blocks I walked with my Dad before giving up on the exercise and returning to the condo.

-- Steve found the ride here a bit fraught; not the drive, but the VIA station had run out of salt and sand before the platforms had quite been cleared... penguin shuffling down half a train-length with a load of Christmas gifts definitely helped keep off some holiday pounds.

Re: Unfortunately

[identity profile] james-nicoll.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Up to five now.

[identity profile] iayork.livejournal.com 2013-12-24 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I remember one like that when I was a kid, on a farm near Ottawa. Ice thick enough to skate on, on top of two feet of snow. The snow drifts were high enough that we could hop over the fences, so we could literally skate for miles.

For kids, it was unbelievable fun. It must have been a nightmare for the adults.
liabrown: (Top straitjacket)

[personal profile] liabrown 2013-12-25 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
There are still lines down on the sidewalk in midtown Toronto right now -- hopefully not live hydro wires. I got some interesting photos, but I'm using my dad's computer and it has the worst image software, so I guess they'll have to wait until my return to K-W. Most people are not salting their sidewalks and residential streets aren't salted either, so it's quite hazardous.

Re: Unfortunately

[identity profile] mmegaera.livejournal.com 2013-12-25 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
I am sorry.

[identity profile] mmegaera.livejournal.com 2013-12-25 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
That's normally how our relatively rare snows here near Seattle work, too. I think of it as an ice sandwich.

I used to live in the Midwest and Colorado and drove on snow there without any more than the usual precautions. When it snows here I'm terrified to drive.

[identity profile] mmegaera.livejournal.com 2013-12-25 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
I think it's a function of how thick the ice gets [g].

(Anonymous) 2013-12-27 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
We do. Environment Canada has made several predictions of freezing rain this year, but only the one ice storm. The difference is that an ice storm produces a significant accumulation of ice, although I don't remember the exact amount.

[identity profile] joenotcharles.livejournal.com 2013-12-27 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
We had freezing rain in Montreal while Toronto and the Eastern Townships were having their ice storm. It's quite a big difference.

[identity profile] rwpikul.livejournal.com 2013-12-29 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
Hydro crews are still fixing things in Guildwood, I only got power back yesterday. I shudder to think how bad it would be if not for all the ash trees[1] that have been cut down this past fall.

At least we've been seeing salt trucks and sidewalk plows, (where the sidewalk isn't blocked).


[1] Have you ever been glad for an infestation of tree killing insects?