Freezing rain started on Monday, January 5, 1998, as Canadians were starting back to work after the Christmas holidays. As the storm continued, layers of ice built up, weighing down power lines and poles, and causing massive power outages. The storm affected upstate New York, northern New Hampshire and Vermont, and most of Maine. They are generally not violent storms but instead are commonly perceived as gentle rains occurr The Devastating Ice Storm of 1998 was a historic storm that affected millions of people across northern New York, northern New England and southeast Canada. What caused the great ice storm of 1998? When these two currents collided, the warm air rose above the cold; the precipitation consequently fell as rain but froze as it reached lower altitudes or hit the ground. Later, in the cold and dark, there would be the creaks and groans of burdened trees, the buzz, and crackle of downed power lines, the metallic shriek of ice-rimmed hydro towers giving way to their icy burden. To enable Verizon Media and our partners to process your personal data select 'I agree', or select 'Manage settings' for more information and to manage your choices. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls. 1 decade ago. Just the steady patter of rain too cold to evaporate. :30 Such a favorable cold air damming happens with an east to northeasterly flow in the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa Valley and along the axis of the Appalachian Mountains. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least 0.25-inch of ice on exposed surfaces. It was caused by a very cold, but shallow, artic air from the north that stalled over the area as warm tropical moist air bought in by the strong mid to upper llevel winds kept them event going for days. We and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through the use of cookies and similar technologies, to display personalised ads and content, for ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. ; The storm coated everything in glassy ice, making all forms of transportation treacherous. Information about your device and internet connection, including your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps. An ice storm is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain, also known as a glaze event or, in some parts of the United States, as a silver thaw. Freezing rain is common in the Eastern half of Canada and New England, generally occurring at the narrow boundary between cold air from the east and north and moist air from the south. One of the most deadly and most devastating American winter storms in recent memory was the Great Ice Storm of 1998 which lasted from January 5 through January 9. Favorite Answer. Some of the origins of this storm were tied to a phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean called El-Nino. Summary of Ice Storm of 1998 . UALog. 5 Answers. Typically, a warm air mass will travel northward along the Mississippi Valley and overrun a shallow layer of cold air trapped at the surface. Answer Save. Yahoo is part of Verizon Media. Sn Relevance. A difficult morning of car scraping quickly turned into a state of emergency from eastern Ontario to southern Quebec. From 1982 to 1994, ice storms were more common than blizzards in the U.S., averaging 16 per year. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Lv 7. In fact, it was one of the biggest disasters in Maine's history. Like other major ice storms that have affected the Lake Ontarioand St. Lawrence region, the storm resulted from a combination of low-pressure warm air currents from the Gulf of Mexico and high-pressure cold currents from the Arctic. The Ice Storm of 1998 came with no howling winds, no torrents of floodwater, no seismic convulsions, not even a clap of thunder. Canadians had never before endured a natural disaster like the ice storm of 1998.