December 2005 North American Ice Storm
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - December 2005 North American Ice Storm
OR:
December 2005 North American Ice Storm on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The December 2005 North American ice storm was a damaging
winter storm A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessa ...
that produced extensive
ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...
damage in a large portion of the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
from December 14–16, 2005, while extensive snowfall was reported across portions of the Canadian provinces of
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
and
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. The
ice storm An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least of ice on e ...
led to enormous and widespread power outages, and at least 7 deaths.


Background

The storm was triggered by a deep
low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...
system formed over the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
on 14 December 2005, which began moving northward. At the same time, cold arctic air from northern
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
penetrated deep into the
central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern and Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the U.S. Census' definition of the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions o ...
and lowered the temperatures at the surface while warm air from the Gulf Stream remained at the coast. A second
Alberta clipper An Alberta clipper, also known as an Alberta low, Alberta cyclone, Alberta lee cyclone, Canadian clipper, or simply clipper, is a fast-moving low-pressure system that originates in or near the Canadian province of Alberta just east of the Rock ...
farther north also added additional energy to the system. The precipitation remained as rain in the coastal areas, including the large cities from
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
to
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
However, freezing rain was extensive in the inland areas, including around
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, where the temperatures remained just below freezing for extended periods. The freezing rain persisted for many hours, leading to extensive ice damage.


Impact

Trees and power lines, along with numerous other lightweight structures, came down in many areas from Georgia northward, and
highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...
s (including several Interstate Highways) were closed and impassable. The heaviest ice accretions were in southwestern
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, where ice over 3/4 inch (20 mm) thick was reported and Charlottesville, Virginia with 1 inch (25,4 mm). At the higher elevations, and farther north across the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
region and into northern
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
, the storm produced heavy snow with amounts varying between 7 inches to as high as 26 inches (57 cm). In Canada, 41 centimetres of snow fell in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
in about 12 hours, with snowfall rates as high as 30 centimetres in 4 hours, and 11 centimetres in a one-hour period during the morning rush hour on December 16. This is the second worst storm on record, after a
storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...
on March 4, 1971 dumped 47 centimetres and the worst fall snowstorm to hit the area since records were kept. In Ottawa, between 20 and 35 centimetres fell in a short period of time causing several
OC Transpo OC Transpo, officially the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission, is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operates an integrated hub-and-spoke system including light metro, bus rapid transit, convention ...
buses to become stuck on the city's
transitway Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
and several of their articulated buses to become jackknifed at a busy intersection in the suburb of
Gatineau, Quebec Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's ...
. In addition, at least seven deaths were blamed on the weather, one of them directly related to weather conditions. One of the deaths was as a result of a tree that fell into a home and crashed into a man in
Kannapolis, North Carolina Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...
, one as a result of a faulty
generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
in a house without power, and the other five as a result of traffic accidents.


Power outage

The ice storm left more than a million people without power in and near the Appalachians, including 630,000 customers in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, 358,000 in
South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, 328,000 in North Carolina and 13,000 in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. It took over a week to restore power. Several emergency shelters also were opened. Electricity was not restored in many places until 20 December 2005, by which time one death was blamed on the outage.


See also

* North American Ice Storm of 1998


References


External links


WLOS-TV (Asheville) news logA Georgia Ice Storm: December 14 - 15, 2005 from the NWS Peachtree, GA office
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ice Storm Of December 2005 2005 meteorology 2005 2005 in economics History of the Northeastern United States Ice storm, 2005 United States 2005 disasters in Canada 2005 natural disasters in the United States Ice storms in Canada December 2005 events in Canada