"Nick Gardner" wrote in message
...
Could it happen this side of the pond? I mean, ice storms on that kind
of scale?

Errr, rarely.

But I do remember the freezing rain that brought mainly places to a
complete standstill for a couple of days (30th/31st December 1995).


I remember the day of freezing rain on 20 Jan 1966; snow had been forecast
after a very cold few days and maxima below freezing on the 19th which was
also sunny. I remember a snow flurry soon after arriving at my office at
0900 on the 20th and I announced , foolishly, that it would snow for most of
the day. Within a few minutes the snow had been replaced by rain and the
temperature was , as far as I recall, around -3c. It rained throughout the
day. I cycled home for lunch, slipped on the sheet ice on the road and
sprawled on the tarmac. I had difficulty in standing because of the ice. The
lunchtime temperature was -2c. Icicles were hanging from gutters and trees.
By evening , the temperature had risen above freezing and the rain had
stopped. This day marked the end of the cold spell and there was very
little more until the wintry spell in mid-April.

I think it would be a busy day on the NG if we had a day similar to 20 Jan
1966.

Peter Clarke
Ewell, Epsom