Big freeze grips much of the US by Steph Ball
The storm which has been wreaking havoc across the mid-US States, pushed on into the Northeast yesterday, reaching New York, New Hampshire and Maine.
The storm has been bringing with it snow, rain, ice and plunging temperatures, causing chaos across several states. Heavy snow falls have brought road networks to a standstill and with the ice storm now icing up to 6 US States.
Ice storms are what weather forecasters in the UK refer to as “freezing rain”. This is when rain falls through freezing temperatures and freezes almost instantly on contact with any surface. It can result in several centimetres of ice accumulating which then creates problems as tree branches or power lines collapse under the increasing weight. It is also very hazardous on roads.
St. Louis and Oklahoma were both hit badly by the ice storm this week suffering massive power outages as lines were downed. A three day freeze resulted in 15 deaths in Oklahoma with the governor calling on President Bush to declare the state a federal disaster emergency.
As the storm reached New York it arrived just in time to disrupt traffic for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Roads, trees and power lines were said to have been coated in a coating of ice half an inch thick.
Freezing temperatures have also hit California hard with a State of Emergency declared. A three day freeze is said to have wiped out three quarters of the citrus crop at a cost of more than 500 million US Dollars. Many records have been broken by the cold weather, not least in Central Los Angeles, where on Sunday the temperature dipped to 2C (36F). This is said to be the lowest January temperature in 75 years ( previous record 3C (37F) set in 1932).
The storm is expected to continue edging east over the next few days.
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