Ice Storm- OK/MO/AR/TX/KY

[rdale]

Reports of over 500 wrecks this morning in North Central Texas.

Wonder if the crashes would have been down if a "black ice warning" would have been issued

 

[Andrew Francis]

Any pictures out of North Arkansas yet?

I am curious to see the aftermath

 

[Brian Emfinger]

Its been 26 hours now without power. I found some locations with 2 inch accumulations. It wasn't hard to know when I got to them. I would have to say at least 90% of all trees in those areas were either felled or had their tops snapped. Here are a few pics from around NW Arkansas in the area north of Ozark/Clarksville and south of Harrison:

many more pics - HERE

 

[Matthew Harding]

This icing event was definitely one that people will remember in the impacted areas for years to come. Thanks to all for sharing your experiences and pictures. As for us in Wichita, we escaped very well, only a very light glazing of ice and less than 1" of snow.
I found this sobering message from the CEO of North Arkansas Electric Co-Op on the Little Rock, AR NWS page that is dedicated to the ice storm:

"In all of my years I have never seen anything that compares to the damage this storm has caused. From the beginning forecasts yesterday morning it seemed the worst could happen, but we tried to believe it wouldn't happen. It did happen. I am sure your service areas look a lot like ours...I have yet to see a mature tree standing that was not severely damaged. Just opening the door to the outside sounds like a war zone, with the continuous sounds of trees and limbs breaking...like gunshots over the next hill. At this point we have no idea as to the extent the distribution system has been damaged, but it has to be bad...bad. My closing thoughts for the night: I sincerely hope that each of you make it through this disaster stronger than when you went in. This event will take everything we have...from our spirit to our never ending dedication to our members...to get us through this. It will take days and possibly weeks...but it will come together. Good luck, stay safe & hang in there."

Thoughts and prayers for everybody impacted.

 

[Chip Redmond]

I have nothing near anything to match Brian's incredible pictures! That is absolutely ridiculous! Great pictures!

Here in Athens, OH we got 3 inches of snow Monday night and a nice break Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night the freezing rain started and didn't end till this morning with totals of .5-.75" of ice. We then got another two inches of snow on top of it this afternoon before the storm finally pulled off to the east. This morning the power flashes started and kept going till daylight. Over 4,000 people in the county are without power. Ohio University closed for the first time in over 5 years.

This storm will definitely go down into the record books. I hope the best for everyone that is in worse situations!



Chip

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Wonder if the crashes would have been down if a "black ice warning" would have been issued

I could have used one, lol. I left around 5:30 a.m. and made the drive down here(Springdale AR at the moment). Dry pavement the whole way till somewhere north of Ft. Scott KS. Then it was just the left lane with sleet or snow on it. I wasn't seeing much of any ice on things yet. I then began to question my pavement, but I blew it off as being salt, you know when a road had a lot of salt used on it and has that look. It had that look, grooves were still very clear and it just looked dry still. I go around a lady that was doing 70(in a 70mph). I was doing right around 75mph when the back end lost control. I've never wrecked at anything near that speed and don't want to again. Soon as I lost it it went right(newer Blazer) on over into the grass/ditch/decline. It's damn scary looking forward out your driver's side window at that speed through grass. I didn't think I was about to die, but damn sure thought I was going to start tumbling and get messed up by loose stuff in the car. Then it flipped around the other way till I was now sliding straight backwards. Then the front came back around where I finally stopped. I should have measured how far I slid. It was a long way, since the grass was slick with sleet and some ice. I wanted to get out and hug the damn truck for not rolling. I never want to feel that feeling again.

The lady behind me came up and stopped, but I waved her on. I guess I at least gave her a warning it was now solid ice we were on, since she was going 70 when I went around her. Once I drove up out of there(car took a while before it would start again but was otherwise ok...still got grass between the tire and the rim though) no one was going over 50 on that highway. That whole deal can make a person extremely paranoid about the road surface the rest of the day. Just about turned around and went back home right there but kept on.

Ice amounts picked up rapidly as I neared this Springdale area, as expected given the radar precip estimates. It's amazing just how much sleet they must have had and they still have 1.5 - 2.0 inches of ice on things. This city is a huge mess. I've probably driven over 30 power lines. Gotten lost in residential areas at a bunch of dead ends(trees/powerlines), forgetting which way I even got to where I was. I'd say 90% of the stop lights are off where I've driven around the last 3 hours here. So just driving around the city is really tricky. A four lane highway intersection leaves you 8 lanes trying to decide who gets to go next.

Seeing how bad it is here and thinking about those precip estimates on east of here, I can't imagine the time it will take to fix it all. It's a bit mind boggling just imagining this city by itself fixing everyone, and it's surely worse east of here(though less people).

Will head east of here tomorrow towards the Mountain Home area then home if I can. This reminds me. Sun was out quite a bit here this afternoon, yet there's been virtually zero melting of this ice. Usually the power line coatings fall off, but I'd say they are still 99% covered as they were at the worst.

Excellent pics Brian. Did you go north of that area? I'm wondering if there are any 3 inch totals anywhere like was reported.

 

[Karla Dorman]

Brian, those are some fantastic pics out of Arkansas. WOW. Ice can be so beautiful, but so devastating.

 

[Stephen Levine]

Here in the Garland TX area, NE of Dallas, I saw about 7mm of ice coating the plants and earth, along with salt-crystal sized sleet in the mid-morning when I went out to take photos.

The ice was enough to slick up the roads and sidewalks, thus closing the schools, but not enough to cause any problems with power, so I had an unplanned day off as well as spent nearly two hours taking photos and savoring a splendid landscape.

Will post a couple of the photos on my web site www.joyfulstormhunting.com within a few days.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Mike, glad to hear you and you truck are OK. I'm compiling the stats for this past week and the fatality counts are so numerous it's going to take me hours to log them all. There are so many from Texas that my head is spinning trying to make sure I don't duplicate any reports. I do know that the number the media is talking about now country-wide (22-23) is way, way too low.

 

[Joe Dorn]

Wonder if the crashes would have been down if a "black ice warning" would have been issued

Since Texans are renown for not being able to drive or walk on ice, we have had warnings aplenty... In addition to non-stop coverage on the national media...

Other than reverse 911 not much more could have been done...

 

[Angie Norris]

Hey H, glad to hear you're ok!! Now, my mother side will come out briefly , you were driving that fast for what reason? And don't EVEN think about trying "but everybody else was doing it". Ok, mother mode off now

Dan, does your data include injuries/deaths from falls as well, or is it just motor vehicle accidents? I know of two serious injuries in the metro area from falling on the ice, and probably too many minor injuries to count. One of my profs asked the class Monday morning if any of us had had any problems getting to class (either on foot or by vehicle). I know my thought about 5 seconds before my posterior met the sidewalk outside the library was "it's still wet, so it's not slippery yet". WRONG!

 

[Paul Austin]

Its been 26 hours now without power. I found some locations with 2 inch accumulations. It wasn't hard to know when I got to them. I would have to say at least 90% of all trees in those areas were either felled or had their tops snapped. Here are a few pics from around NW Arkansas in the area north of Ozark/Clarksville and south of Harrison:

many more pics - HERE

Hey Brian, nice photos. I wouldn't think you would have made it as far as Jasper or Mt. Sherman, but have you heard anything about that general area? My aunt and uncle live up on Mt. Sherman and own the Ozark Cafe and a couple other businesses in Jasper. Last big ice storm up that way they got stuck up on the mountain and made an amusing attempt to get down even with a 4wd vehicle. A friend of theirs was actually struck by a dear as he stood in an open field when the animal lost its footing and went sliding down the hillside - a little payback for all the roadway impacts? Anyway, I haven't talked to them yet, but I figure they're either stuck up on Sherman or down in Jasper.

 

[Dan Robinson]

The storm total death toll from icy roads alone is 27 from January 26-28. 7 in Texas alone. That doesn't count non-road deaths (hypothermia, carbon monoxide, falling trees, etc). That number will likely rise in the next few days as more media reports get posted and become searchable online (which is how I compile the data). Reports from the northeast probably won't all be completely in for another 5 days.

Dan, does your data include injuries/deaths from falls as well, or is it just motor vehicle accidents?!

Right now I'm just compiling the fatalities from motor vehicle accidents caused by road ice. Injuries are so numerous they are impossible to count - from news reports though, you can probably estimate for every death there are at least 50 injuries. The fatality data is only possible because the vast majority of fatal crashes are reported in the news media.

There has been at least one death this winter from a person slipping and falling (that's not counted in the icy road totals though). He was a young student which made it even more bizarre.

 

[Chris C Sanner]

Posted a new video of the Winter Storm in the Norman Area:

http://www.supercellhunting.com

I got about 1.5" - 2" of sleet here at the house...wasn't too bad of a storm compared to last year's and earlier Ice Storms in Southern Oklahoma this decade. What I wouldn't give for a good old fashioned snow sometime this winter!

 

[Brian Emfinger]

MikeH - the farthest north I got to was nearly to Swain in Newton County (12 miles SW of Jasper). I bet there are some 3 inch amounts somewhere farther north and east from where I stopped. Some reports around Eureka Springs (good photo ops there) have 3 inches but not sure if thats all frz rain or frz rain & sleet. The other report of 3 inch ice was in the higher elevations of Newton & Boone Counties. The roads were a mess when I left out but by the afternoon on the way home were getting quite clear. I never had to turn around once from trees down either although there are areas where I barely made it through.

Paul - I would think that they could get out if they wanted. The roads are mostly clear of ice at this point and I made it into some areas at 2250 feet high with about 2 inches of ice and the road crews had the trees to where you could get through them. No telling how long their electricity will be out though.

I have to work tomorrow but will be doing stories over this... will post if get anything crazy.

EDIT: I am about to head up to (630am) the Stillwell/Westville area of extreme NE Ok.