A major ice storm wreaked havoc in the Northeast on today's date in 2008, knocking out power for over a million customers, shutting down towns for days.
A cold front moved into the region a couple days prior, ushering in a cold air mass. The following day, a low pressure system that developed in the southern states moved northeast over the mid-Atlantic region and then over southern New England by the morning of the 12th.
As the system moved into the region, it brought warmer air aloft. With the cold air mass already in place at the surface, this was the perfect setup for mixed precipitation.
Heavy precipitation came down in the form of freezing rain for several hours and by the time it tapered off, ice accumulations ranged from around half an inch up to an inch. Higher elevations saw colder temperatures, where sleet and snow fell instead, with reports of 3 to 6 inches of snow.
Ice storms are rare because the setup in the atmosphere has to be just right for ice accumulation. But when they do occur, they can be very dangerous. This was true of this setup.
What made this storm so devastating was not only the intensity of freezing rain, but also the widespread area that saw freezing rain. All of southern Vermont, southern New Hampshire, the western two-thirds of Massachusetts and portions of New York all saw heavy accumulations and damage to trees and powerlines.
Over a million customers lost power across New England, with about 440,000 of these outages occurring in New Hampshire alone. States of emergency were declared for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Maine.
For the first few days after the storm, it was nearly impossible to leave town due to the extensive tree damage.
Restorations were slow, with some power outages lasting over two weeks across New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Some school districts closed early for the semester due to these outages.
The final outages were restored on Christmas Eve.
Miriam Guthrie graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with an undergraduate degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and is now a meteorology intern with weather.com while working toward her master's.
