On Sun, 06 Mar 2016 15:27:28 -0000, Ralph Mowery wrote:


"Mr Macaw" wrote in message news
.

What is an "ice storm"? Is that the same as a "hail storm"? Our
transformers never seem to break.


The ice storm is when the rain fall out of the sky and freezes on the power
lines and trees. It can build up to several inches in diameter. Often the
ice is more than the tree or some of the big limbs can stand and they break
and fall across the power lines. Sometimes could be called freezing rain.

Unlike hail that is already frozen and does not usually stick to the wires
and trees. Hail can be large enough to damage things but does not usually
take out the power lines.

That's very odd and seems to be against the laws of physics. If it's below freezing on the branches, how come it's above freezing higher up (where you'd expect it to be colder) causing rain and not hail?

The only time we get too much weight on branches is in colder parts (North Scotland) where SNOW falls on things. Snow has the ability to stick of course, and builds up.

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