Climatic perspective and impacts of the 1998 northern New York and New England ice storm

Abstract

From 4 through 10 January 1998 a severe ice storm impacted northern New York and New England. Liquid-equivalent precipitation totals, which fell exclusively as freezing rain, reached as high as 11 cm at some observing sites in northwestern New York. At the limited number of stations in the region that report hourly meteorological observations, the magnitude of the storm was unprecedented since the beginning of digital records in 1948. The duration of the storm exceeded 115 h at Massena, New York, nearly twice the duration of the second-longest event. In terms of the liquid-equivalent precipitation amount that fell as freezing rain, nearly 9 cm was reported at Massena, New York, and 5.7 cm was observed at Burlington, Vermont, the highest amounts on record. Despite these point estimates of storm severity, it is argued that icing events in 1973, 1969, 1956, and 1921 were of comparable magnitude in New York and New England. However, with the exception of the 1921 storm, it does not appear that the spatial extent of these storms was as broad as that of the 1998 ice storm. The economic impacts associated with the storm were most severe in New York and Maine. Across the region, the greatest icing impacts affected electric and communications utilities, forestry interests, the dairy and maple syrup industries, and property owners. Overall, a conservative estimate of ice storm related damages exceeds $1 billion.