ICE STORM !

[WA3VJB]

Heavy glaze of ice this morning after a combination of snow, freezing spittle and plain rain all night.

The power went out around 6AM.

Have been on the UPS, running the fiberoptic and the computer terminal.

Next probably will lay some line and set the generator out there for the day to run the furnace and the water pump.

Branches making tremendous crashing sound every so often in the woods around the house, kinda scary !

Schools are all closed.

[n3lrx]

Went through that last year. The limb that broke and took down my Dipole was about 7" across.. At about 5am it fell and landed smack in the middle of the roof, broke in half and slid done into the back yard.. Scared the slopbucket out of me! I thought I was going to have to call the land lord and say, "You remember that big old Oak out front?, well, it ain't there no more. unfortunately, neither is the house!" Got lucky though, it was all dead wood so it broke up on impact. The only casualty was my dipole and a dented crowning vent on the roof. Inside the house it sure sounded worse! My neighbors got a show too, It freaked me out so bad I got up and ran outside to see what happened without even thinking to put some clothes on! The cops never showed up so they either didn't see me or found it entertaining.. LOL

[Jim, W5JO]

Sure hope you guys up NE enjoyed what, was in past times, called Indian Summer back a month or so ago.  It appears that you are really in for it now.

[KF1Z]

6" on the ground now, with a forescast calling for 16-26" of the white stuff by tomorrow morning.

(central, VT)

Guess I'll have to get out the shovel after all........

[WD8BIL]

19" in the front yard at 6AM today. Lost power for only a minute or so last nite. Typical winter storm. Driveway cleared in about 2 hours but no where to go. The street hasn't been cleared yet !

[N6WDR]

You all be safe back their in that part of the country, I know alot of states are getting hammerd by this storm.  My sister got that nice little blizard that went through Indiana yesterday. So you guys bundle up and stay warm.  I won't bother you with the 70 degree weather we are having here in San diego  .

Richard

[w3jn]

Lots of ice pellets overnight but no freezing rain.  Drove all the way to Frederick this morning for Dr. appointment only to find 'em closed.  I needed 4 wheel drive to get DOWN the driveway this morning!  Lots of spinouts and ice on I-70.

The snow/ice is so thick and heavy, although only about 5", that 4 wheel drive with a posi rear end almost doesn't cut it.

Allegheny Power here OM, no power outages expected.  We've had ice storms with over an inch thick ice on the wires and never lost power.

Had a Dr, dentist, vet, and ortho for the kid appointments today - was gonna knock 'em all out.  Dentist closed too; remains to be seen about the vet and the orthodontist.

[W9GT]

Well, we just got the blizzard here in Indiana.  Fortunately, no freezing rain, but lots of snow.  We got about 8" of new snow on top of the 4" or so already on the ground at home in Ft Wayne.  Drive into work about 25 miles south was "interesting".  They got a foot of snow here in Decatur, IN.  High winds and drifting...just about shut everything down...but Phone Company still open and I'm here with about 10% of the normal work force of 150 or so in this building.  Ain't Winter grand?  Oh well., wait a minute .....the wx will change....this is Indiana!!

73,  Jack, W9GT

[WA3VJB]

I don't mind snow, you can drive in it to a greater extent than ice.
Plus, snow does not as routinely bring down the trees and powerlines.
Still, take care shoveling that stuff, stay inside and watch it melt.

[KB2WIG]

             "Plus, snow does not as routinely bring down the trees and powerlines."

Routinely is the word... after a few feet, the roof load starts to get up there and ... "Whoosh" its a winter wonderland in the living room. Still, I'd rather drive in the snow than on a road covered in ice.  As far as the pic, (Parish, NY) the going rate is $300 to $500 to clear the roof...   klc

[w3duq]

i feel sorry for the brown truck drivers too.  mine just left a box at the upper end of the driveway so it will get in here when the ice mealts

[nu2b]

It's moderately bad here on LI.
Pine tree branches couldn't take the ice loading and wind gusts so decided to fall on the dipole.
Currently still listening to all the guys on 3885 with the ant on the ground.
Reception is surprisingly AOK.
Maybe I'll leave it there till spring.
Time to get out the bottle of B&B (for medicinal purposes only)
Everybody stay warm and dry!
Regards,
BobbyT

[W2XR]

Here at W2XR (about 3 miles from Bob, NU2B), temp is holding at 30 degrees and the 600 ohm open wire feedline is coated with ice and sagging about 1 foot from normal due to the ice loading. We've seen some branches broken from the ice here too, but nothing serious at this QTH.

I'm going out now to pick up a dozen roses for the radio chick; should be interesting to see how the roads are. I hate driving when there is ice on the roads.

Good day otherwise to stay in and finish up the final integration of the new push-pull class A 845 audio driver into the rig; I'm hoping to have it on the air by this weekend.

73 &  Stay Safe & Warm,

Bruce

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

8 to 10 inches of wet heavy snow in Herndon, Virginia.  It wouldn't have been so bad, except that two of my neighbors needed help digging their cars out of the two foot deep pile of frozen mush that the plow left next to their cars.

Then I went to work.  All I want to do is sleep now.  Maybe the boss won't mind.

[W2XR]

Temperature continuing to drop here on Long Island; it's now down to 24 degrees and branches are snapping more frequently. Temperature is dropping at the rate of about 3-4 degrees per hour now.

To be safe, I just loosened the halyard at one end of the 75M dipole to give it a lot of slack, as there is about 1 inch of ice on the antenna, open wire feedline, and the guys for the towers. Ice loading is going to be heavy if this freezing rain keeps up.

Not much snow, but lots of rain. Roads are very glitchy.

73,

Bruce

[W1RKW]

Still raining lightly in central CT.  It's 430PM.  Temp is 27°F and falling.  Vehicle has about 1/8" of ice on it.  Trees and shrubs are coated but not to bad at this point.  Hopefully this will stop soon and damage will be minor to none.  Generator is ready to go just in case power goes down.

[W1RKW]

Update- there's been a precipitation change over from freezing rain to sleet.  At least the forecasters got something right.  The change over occurred when they said.  It's now sleet pellets.  The wind has picked up.  Temp has dropped to 21°F at 509PM.  I don't believe there's enough ice on the trees and my antennas to cause any damage. The coating seems pretty light.  That's good.  Driving however is not good.  My street is a sheet of ice. Everything in the driveway is frozen.

[The Slab Bacon]

got around 3-4" of sleet and ice here in B-more. Nasty S##t. We had sleet and more sleet then a little freezing rain to glue it together nicely. I wuz shoveling 3" thick solid icebergs from the driveway. that schtuff is HEAVY and awkward to shovel. The snow blower has spoiled me over the years. This manwell friggin shoveling has me with aches and painz in places that I forgot existed!! It sucks to get old!!

                                                                                   The Slab Bacon

[WA1GFZ]

snow blower had to really work to chop up ice and snow. We only got about 3 inches. I'm thinking it may be time for a new set of points for my 1975 Sears snow blower that my Dad bought when my brother and I moved out. Motor has never been apart. It wants to run rich to make power.

[W3RSW]

Well !
Seems like just last week Gary sent that halcyon pix from Syracuse showing greenery and flowers popping up out of season in his backyard.  Now Anapolis gets a taste of the north.  Glad I moved from N. Pa. / S. NYS to WVa.

But now I get to walk up the damn hill on my 600 ft. ice covered driveway, both ways.... in the snow. At least most of the lake effect doesn't make it over the Appalachians to Va. and Md.  You just get the backwards NE'strs & coastal nasty stuff.

.... and the global warming conference in Washington got cancelled today a/c cold, icy wx.
mmm,hmmm.
73's, Rick

[Bill, KD0HG]

             "Plus, snow does not as routinely bring down the trees and powerlines."

Routinely is the word... after a few feet, the roof load starts to get up there and ... "Whoosh" its a winter wonderland in the living room. Still, I'd rather drive in the snow than on a road covered in ice.  As far as the pic, (Parish, NY) the going rate is $300 to $500 to clear the roof...   klc

That's a favorite income for the ski bums around here. Shoveling roofs, and installing tire chains for poor damsels in distress.

..

[W1UJR]

At the height of the storm, we lost power from midnight until 3 AM or so.
I always love power blackouts, its like an excuse to go camping.
Broke out the wind up radio, listened to the Art Bell program (with the new host), read by candle light until nearly 2PM.

It was wicked cold, compounded by a whipping wind, and the trees were making ominous groans, heard even inside the house.
Thankfully had the wood-stove going, so the place stayed quite warm and toasty.

I lost one pine tree branch, about the size of car, from ice loading, otherwise fine.
No aerial damage, or other casualties.

Everything had a 1-2" coating of ice this AM, including my truck!


Storm Results at my office in Wiscasset, ME