Our birch tree in front of Thomas's window split in two.
On Sunday, January 27, the high was in the 60s. It was so dry that a house on the next block caught fire from burning grass and a burning bush and the house was consumed in less than half an hour. Ashes fell into our back yard five houses away.
Just two days later we were hit by an ice storm. School was closed for three days and hundreds of thousands of homes were without power and heat. Our power was off for 44 hours and we stayed overnight with Dick's mom. Ice broke millions of branches citywide, and the weight of those branches broke power poles and power and cable TV lines. A week later many were still without power.
In the midst of this, before the ice melted on Saturday, it was like a fairyland of white glistening crystal trees, bushes, and even grass. Here are a few photos Dick took of the damage and the spectacle.
Our birch tree in front of Thomas's window split in two.
The dogwood in front of our dining room looked like it was made of crystal.
Thomas discovered this crystal.
This is a closeup view of the dogwood. The ice formed around every branch and twig, over half an inch through.
Icicles over a foot long formed on our back gutters as the ice melted on the roof.
Little spheres of ice formed around each leaf on these shrubs by the front walk.
Two of our three hawthorne trees suffered damage from broken limbs. This is a close up view of the beautiful snare of ice that formed on their limbs and branches.
Copyright (C) 2002 by Dick Hodgman.
If you would like a large format copy of an image, contact Dick through http://www.hodgman.org/contact/
Last modified on 2003 January 08
