A historic ice storm downs trees, cuts power, coats homes and wreaks havoc in the Greater Toronto Area leaving residents stunned
A low pressure system from Texas was passing through Midwestern United States and entered Ontario, Canada, by 2 PM on the 20th of December 2013. The associated warm front, which ran from Texas to Toronto, extreme northern New York States and New England, had been more or less stationary for two days. North of the front, snow fell in large amounts while near it, precipitation was freezing rain and/or ice pellets. The front gradually extended toward the Maritimes during the night on the 20th to the 21st, affecting extreme Southern Quebec, and later the Maritimes. The storm caused freezing rain to build up on tree branches causing some to fall off and topple power lines in the process of falling. In Ontario, Hydro One, which serves mostly rural areas, reported over 130,000 power outages at the height of the storm. The areas particularly hard hit include areas along the shores of the Lake Ontario. In Trenton, which lies just east of the GTA, there was a reported 3cm of ice accumulation the ground. The ice accumulation across southern and eastern Ontario was severe enough to result in wide spread power outages due to fallen trees and branches, and numerous vehicle pile-ups on Highway 401. The town of Woolwich declared a state of emergency on December 22nd after it was determined that they would be without power for at least 24 hours. Elsewhere in Ontario, thousands of customers remained without power well after Christmas day. The city of Toronto, Canada’s largest city, was among the hardest hit by the ice storm. The first wave of freezing rain began on December 21st, it coated the city in a significant, but manageable amount of ice. The second and more powerful wave of rain struck the city in early morning hours of December 22nd. Utility poles and tree branches collapsed under the enormous weight of the thick ice accumulation. At the height of the storm there were over 300,000 Toronto Hydro customers that were left without power or heat.
Size: 5010px × 3340px
Location: Woodbridge, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Photo credit: © Tomislav Stefanac / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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