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Resident 2B · 12-11-2008, 02:20 AM

It is starting to look more and more like an ice storm for the next 24 to 36 hours. Ice build up of an inch or so is possible in some areas.

Ice storms are very hard to predict, but a layer of cold air trapped at the surface under a warmer layer is what causes the ice and not sleet or snow. The snow falls through the warmer layer, melts into water at about 35 - 40 degrees F, then remains as water until it hits the ground/trees/power lines that are in the trapped layer of cold air.

If the trapped cold air layer is too thick, you get sleet, something a lot easier to deal with than ice. This is because the water has a chance to freeze before it hit the ground. Sleet is small ice pellets and it bounces when it hits the ground.

I hope it is sleet, but it is looking like ice to me right now.

R2B

12-11-2008, 02:20 AM	#1
Resident 2B Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Shore, MA Posts: 1,358 Thanks: 995 Thanked 314 Times in 164 Posts	Ice Storm? Dec 11/12, 2008 It is starting to look more and more like an ice storm for the next 24 to 36 hours. Ice build up of an inch or so is possible in some areas. Ice storms are very hard to predict, but a layer of cold air trapped at the surface under a warmer layer is what causes the ice and not sleet or snow. The snow falls through the warmer layer, melts into water at about 35 - 40 degrees F, then remains as water until it hits the ground/trees/power lines that are in the trapped layer of cold air. If the trapped cold air layer is too thick, you get sleet, something a lot easier to deal with than ice. This is because the water has a chance to freeze before it hit the ground. Sleet is small ice pellets and it bounces when it hits the ground. I hope it is sleet, but it is looking like ice to me right now. R2B