The North American Ice Storm of 1998 (also known as Great Ice Storm of 1998) was a massive combination of five smaller successive ice storms which combined to strike a relatively narrow swath of land from eastern Ontario to southern Quebec to Nova Scotia in Canada, and bordering areas from northern New York to central Maine in the United States, in January 1998. Chris Mckee (centre) along with other members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons clear branches from roads in the east end of Ottawa after a devastating ice storm struck eastern Ontario and parts of Quebec in 1998. If the cold air layer is too thick, the droplets refreeze before hitting the ground and form ice pellets which are less hazardous. health officials report 82 new cases of COVID-19, after a record number of tests conducted. [15] Damage to the power grid was so severe that major rebuilding, not repairing, of the electrical grid had to be undertaken. However, a freezing rain storm usually lasts only a few hours and leaves a few millimeters of accumulation. The ice storm led to the largest deployment of Canadian military personnel since the Korean War, with over 16,000 Canadian Forces personnel deployed, 12,000 in Quebec and 4,000 in Ontario at the height of the crisis.[1][2]:16. A T-shirt sold in Ottawa, Ontario, a region affected by the 1998 North American Ice Storm. Powerless: 20 years ago, ice storm hammers eastern Ontario, From 2016: Military thaws out Ottawa Valley after 1998 ice storm. [6] Twelve more deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in additional damage were caused by the flooding farther south from the same storm system. The ice storm was a natural disaster that unfolded in slow motion, as drop upon drop of freezing rain fell for some 50 hours. That wasn't always easy, however, for the thousands of people left in the dark to wait for assistance. health officials report 82 new cases of COVID-19, after a record number of tests conducted, Snow, ice pellets and freezing rain hitting Eastern Canada this weekend, Toronto weather, visit our Skytracker page, Worst of freezing rain expected overnight across GTA, Snow, ice pellets and freezing rain hitting Eastern Canada this weekend. For more than 80 hours, steady freezing rain and drizzle fell over an area of several thousand square miles of Eastern Ontario, including Ottawa and Kingston, an extensive area in southern Quebec, northern New York, and northern New England (including parts of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine). The North American Ice Storm of 1998 (also known as Great Ice Storm of 1998) was a massive combination of five smaller successive ice storms in January 1998 that struck a relatively narrow swath of land from eastern Ontario to southern Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada, and bordering areas from northern New York to central Maine in the United States. In addition, 6,200 CF members and DND employees working at their regular jobs provided the logistical support required to sustain the operation.[1]. When that rain touches the ground in the cold air below, the droplets freeze on contact, creating accumulations of ice. A look at the two storms: how they are similar, and how they differ. More than 85 millimetres of freezing rain and ice pellets fell on Ottawa. It was the largest deployment of troops ever to serve on Canadian soil in response to a natural disaster since the Manitoba floods in 1997, where 14,000 troops were deployed, and the largest operational deployment of Canadian military personnel since the Korean War.[1][2]. Ice Storm 1998 videos and latest news articles; GlobalNews.ca your source for the latest news on Ice Storm 1998 . Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. Two decades ago this week, eastern Ontario and western Quebec were hit with — as Environment Canada aptly called it at year's end — the ice storm of the century. The two air masses collided keeping the cold air down, and the warmer air higher up in the atmosphere. Millions of trees were brought down by the weight of ice around the affected areas. From Jan. 5 to 10, 1998, freezing rain and ice pellets battered a wide swath of eastern Canada, plastering affected areas with heavy ice that toppled power and phone lines, trees, utility poles and electrical transmission towers. Pedestrians make their way past broken branches as clean-up operations begin in Montreal following an ice storm in 1998. With many roads impassable due to heavy snowfall or fallen trees, broken power lines and coated with a heavy layer of ice, emergency vehicles could hardly move. From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core. "Twenty years later, time has not dimmed the outpouring of compassion, and sense of community, Canadians showed to each other. Similar to this storm — and as is similar in many weather systems that affect southern Ontario — the Ice Storm of 1998 began in Texas. The freezing rain made all forms of transportation treacherous. how she and her family were dealing with the aftermath of the storm, sent money, blankets, firewood, and even power generators, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Between January 4 and 10, 1998, parts of eastern Ontario and Quebec were hit by three storms. It renders roads and sidewalks slippery, causing minor traffic collisions, but road crews use de-icing material to take care of it. The ice storm led to the largest deployment of Canadian military personnel since the Korean War, with over 16,000 Canadian Forces personnel deployed, 12,000 in Quebec and 4,000 in Ontario at the height of the crisis.[1][2]:16. In Quebec alone, 150,000 people were without electricity as of January 28. At the same time, a high pressure center was sitting farther north in Labrador, keeping an easterly flow of very cold air near the surface. It caused massive damage to trees and electrical infrastructure all over the area, leading to widespread long-term power outages. [11] As another example, 5,000 trees in Montreal's Mount Royal Park had to be cut, 80% (140,000) of the rest were damaged to different degrees and had to be trimmed, a large number severely. Burlington, Vermont National Weather Service (2008). Snow is produced at upper levels in such a winter storm system, but it eventually melts into rain as it falls through a warm air layer of above freezing temperature (of at least 1,200 feet (370 m) in depth) associated with the overrunning. At least twenty-five people died in the areas affected by the ice, primarily from hypothermia, according to Environment Canada. The rain passes through colder air near the surface and supercools. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. [18], Coordinates: 45°06′36″N 73°40′12″W / 45.11°N 73.67°W / 45.11; -73.67. [16], With many roads impassable due to heavy snowfall or fallen trees, broken power lines and coated with a heavy layer of ice, emergency vehicles could hardly move. The low pressure, warm front moved in along with a high-pressure Arctic cold front. Typically, a warm air mass will travel northward along the Mississippi Valley and overrun a shallow layer of cold air trapped at the surface. [2]:30 Such a favorable cold air damming happens with an east to northeasterly flow in the St. Lawrence (the predominant wind direction in the St. Lawrence Valley is usually either northeast or southwest) and the Ottawa Valley and along the axis of the Appalachian Mountains. 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The upper flow then turned eastward, bringing this air mass down toward the Bay of Fundy. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 668: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. Overall estimates are around $4–6 billion US$ for all the areas affected. The first hint of trouble came on January 6 when forecasters warned of possible heavy icing. People sought refuge in hotels or tried to stay as warm as they could in their homes. Over 15,000 troops were deployed. View an infographic of ice storm numbers here. Farther to the south, southern Ontario and western New York, as well as much of the Appalachian region from Tennessee northward, received heavy rain and severe flooding, while further east, the Canadian Maritimes mostly received heavy snow. What many recall of the Great Ice Storm of 1998: The sounds. [4] An unusually strong Bermuda high pressure area was anchored over the Atlantic Ocean, which prevented these systems from moving further to the east, as most winter storms do when they pass over the Great Lakes–St. On January 7, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick called on the help of the Canadian Forces, prompting the deployment of more than 15,000 military personnel at the peak of the crisis. However, this storm isn’t nearly as bad as the one that left nearly a million people without power across eastern Ontario and parts of Quebec. [11] As many trees were damaged or fell by the heavy ice, the maple syrup and orchard regions suffered heavy blows and massive losses in the storm; Quebec's maple sugar industry, the largest in the world, was devastated. Kingston ended up declaring the first state of emergency in the city's history, one of 57 communities in Ontario to do so. In addition to help residents, CN locomotives (CN3502 and CN3555) were moved off the tracks and used to provide power to residents of Boucherville and Coteau-du-Lac, south and west of Montreal respectively. However, the 1998 storm left deposits twice as thick, downing power lines all over the region, damaging most of the trees in Montreal, and leaving streets covered in a thick, impassable layer of ice.[4]. "This task is so overwhelming we're going to be many, many days sorting it out," said then-mayor of Kingston, Ont., Gary Bennett, shortly after the weather turned. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces walk to their headquarters in Westmount on January 9, 1998, after the ice storm of 1998. Farmers lost livestock and faced thousands of dollars in damage to barns and other infrastructure. Nearly 16,000 troops were dispatched to the areas, making it the largest peacetime deployment in Canadian history. CP-140 aircraft from 14 Wing Greenwood, NS conducted aerial imagery of the downed power lines in Quebec and Ontario. The ice accreted — which is a gradual process where layers of ice grow — on hydro towers, downing several kilometres of power lines and telephone cables.