Glaze Ice - Examples of Damages

Examples of Damages

In February 1994, a severe ice storm caused over $1 billion in damage in the Southern United States, primarily in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. One particularly severe ice storm struck eastern Canada and northern parts of New York and New England in the North American ice storm of 1998.

Another example of the effect of glaze ice occurred during a freezing rain event during the unusually severe winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom. Heavy snow had fallen over much of the country in late December and early January. By the second week of January, many of the roads and pavements had been cleared by local councils due to the use of rock salt gritting. However, during the early hours of 12 January a wet front moved across the country causing freezing rain and heavy ice glaze, particularly in the South and West Yorkshire areas of Northern England (crucially, this rainfall had stopped before first light). When the local population prepared to set out for work and school, they saw from their windows what appeared to be clear roads and pavements but which were in fact treacherous sheets of black ice. Cars and buses almost immediately encountered extreme difficulty, and emergency services were called to dozens of accidents. Pedestrians in the village of Holmfirth found the only safe way to proceed was to crawl on all fours. Accident and emergency units at hospitals in the Sheffield, Rotherham, and Barnsley areas found themselves inundated by people with broken bones, fractures, and sprains, and many schools were closed as it was judged unsafe for pupils to attempt to make their way there.

On December 25, 2010, freezing rain fell on Moscow and vicinity. The glaze ice accumulation caused a number of accidents and power outages, of which the most serious was damage caused to two power lines feeding Domodedovo Airport, causing a complete blackout of the airport and express railway that connected it to the city. As a result, the airport was shut down and hundreds of passengers were stranded inside, with taxi drivers charging up to 10,000 rubles (USD 330) for a one-hour drive to the city.

In 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184 encountered heavy air traffic and poor weather that postponed the arrival of this flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where it was to have landed en route from Indianapolis, Indiana. The ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop carrying 68 people, entered a holding pattern 65 miles (105 km) southeast of O'Hare. As the plane circled, the freezing rain formed a ridge of glaze ice on the upper surface of its wings, eventually causing the aircraft's autopilot to suddenly disconnect and the pilots to lose control. The ATR disintegrated on impact with a field below. All passengers and crew were killed.