What Ice Storm Accumulations Mean and How to Stay SafeBy Chris Dolce
Published Nov 25 2015 12:37 PM EST
weather.com
00:00 / 00:00
How Much Freezing Rain is Too Much?
The Weather Channel meteorologist Paul Goodloe shows it doesn’t take much freezing rain to cause problems.
You may hear forecasters talk about ice accumulations during an ice storm and wonder, “Will I lose power, or will the roads just be slippery?”
Even a thin coating of ice can result in a travel nightmare, while heavier amounts will severely damage trees and power lines. Strong winds can add extra force to already weighed down tree branches and power lines, increasing the likelihood of significant damage.
Ice Storm Facts
Ice can increase the weight of branches by 30 times.
A 1/2-inch accumulation on power lines can add 500 pounds of extra weight.
An ice storm in 2009 centered from northern Arkansas to the Ohio Valley knocked out power to 1.3 million.
In 1998, an ice storm in northern New York and northern New England damaged millions of trees and caused $1.4 billion in damage. Accumulations were as much as three inches thick!
These ice accumulations are caused by freezing rain. Freezing rain is a result of snow falling through an above-freezing warm layer in the atmosphere above the surface of the earth, which melts the snowflakes into rain. The rain drops then move into a thin layer of below-freezing air right near the surface of the earth, allowing them to freeze on contact to the ground, trees, cars and other objects.
While accumulations of sleet can also make roads treacherous, sleet does not accumulate on trees and powerlines, so ice events with more sleet than freezing rain pose a greatly reduced threat for tree damage or power outages.
(MORE: Difference Between Freezing Rain and Sleet)
The type of precipitation we see at the ground depends not only on the temperature at the ground, but also several thousand feet above the surface.
What kind of impacts and damage do different amounts of ice cause?
“Nuisance”
A nuisance ice event is usually one of 1/4 inch or less of ice accumulation.
Even though these lighter accumulations are considered nuisance, travel can be extremely dangerous even with a light glazing.
“Disruptive”
A disruptive ice storm is typically one of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice accumulation.
This amount of ice starts to damage trees and power lines.
“Crippling”
Widespread accumulations of over 1/2 inch.
With widespread ice accumulations of over 1/2 inch, there is severe tree damage and power outages may last for days.
The most devastating storms contain ice accumulations of an inch or more.
(MORE: Winter Storm Central)
Be Prepared
Avoid driving on icy roads for your safety and the safety of emergency personnel.
Be sure to charge cell phones and laptops ahead of time. Make sure you have several ways to communicate with others. Consider landline phones, social media, and texting.
Remember, if it’s too cold for you, it’s too cold for your pets. Plan for pets to come inside, and store adequate food and water for them.
Children should never play around ice-covered trees; they may be injured if a branch breaks under the weight of the ice and falls on them.
Think about safe alternate power sources you could use if you lose heat, such as a fireplace, wood/coal stove or portable space heaters. However, be sure to exercise caution:
Follow manufacturers instructions when using portable space heaters and other devices.
Never use portable generators, camp stoves and grills inside your home or garage; they should only be used outside. Keep them at least 20 feet away from your home’s windows, doors and vents to prevent deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
Use flashlights during power outages instead of candles to prevent the risk of fire, and keep plenty of extra batteries on-hand.
Before the Power Goes Out: Food Safety
Make sure you have appliance thermometers in your refrigerator and freezer.
Check to ensure that the freezer temperature is at or below 0 degrees and the refrigerator is at or below 40 degrees.
In case of a power outage, the appliance thermometers will indicate the temperatures in the refrigerator and freezer to help you determine if the food is safe.
Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer, refrigerator, or coolers in case the power goes out. If your normal water supply is contaminated or unavailable, the melting ice will also supply drinking water.
Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerated food cold if the power will be out for more than four hours.
Purchase or make ice cubes in advance and store in the freezer for use in the refrigerator or in a cooler. Freeze gel packs ahead of time for use in coolers.
Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.
When the Power Goes Out: Food Safety
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.
A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if it is unopened.
Buy dry or block ice (or freeze containers of water) to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time.
If you plan to eat refrigerated or frozen meat, poultry, fish or eggs while it is still at safe temperatures, it’s important that each item is thoroughly cooked to the proper temperature to assure that any foodborne bacteria that may be present is destroyed. However, if at any point the food was above 40 degrees for two hours or more — discard it.
For infants, try to use prepared, canned baby formula that requires no added water. When using concentrated or powdered formulas, prepare with bottled water if the local water source is potentially contaminated.
https://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpg00OKChristmashttps://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpgOKChristmas2015-11-28 19:11:202015-11-28 19:11:20What Ice Storm Accumulations Mean and How to Stay Safe
https://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpg00OKChristmashttps://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpgOKChristmas2015-11-28 01:48:462015-12-01 13:53:59There's still time. We have plenty of LED lights ready to go out! Call 405-242-2250 or click today!
https://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpg00OKChristmashttps://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpgOKChristmas2015-11-27 14:15:212015-11-27 14:15:21Save 20% on last minute LED holiday lighting installation now through Monday. Mention code:BlackFriLED
Outline Walkways with Pathway Lights: Pathway lights are a great idea for creating a bright welcoming path to the front door. Stakes hold light strings in place. Since light stakes range from 4.5 inches to 15 inches, take into consideration the weather in your area and plan accordingly. Yards with lots of snow will need the 15 inch stake, while areas without snow will only need the 4.5 inch size. Christmas Lights, Etc has created some pathway light kits with the most popular C7 and C9 bulbs, stringers, and stakes. Choose between LED or incandescent bulbs and clear or multicolor lights.
Walkway Trees: These small trees can add some extra sparkle to your yard decorations for Christmas and come in variety of sizes. For those with walkways and no natural hedges, place walkway trees along the sidewalk to complement staked lights. Take into consideration the rest of your yard’s colors and wrap the walkway trees with complementary lights. Multicolor lights look great on walkway trees and complement cool whites. Bright colors also work as great attention grabbers.
Hang Garland on Fences: Prelit garland works well to spruce up fences and gates. Purchase prelit garlands or wrap unlit ones with lights. For fences, use it in long lengths, allowing the garland to drape slightly in between posts. Add ribbon or other decor to coordinate with your overall yard decorating scheme. Mount matching prelit wreaths on posts, windows, or doors.
Drape Icicle Lights over Fences: Hang icicle lights along fences to convey a sense of falling snow. You can also drape garland lights or mini lights in a swag display to create an attractive border around the property.
Place Starlight Stakes along walkways: Another great way to light paths and driveways is with starlight stakes. These bright balls of light can be incandescent or LED and come in many eye popping colors. Their stakes are adjustable, so you can decide how high you want them.
Starlight spheresStarlight Stakes Outline the Walkway
Hang Snowflake and Star Motifs on Gates: Another Christmas yard decoration idea is to place glittering snowflakes or shining stars on your gates to welcome visitors to your home. You can also mount them to your house or hang them from trees to create a glittering scene. These bright motifs will draw attention to your yard.
https://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpg00OKChristmashttps://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpgOKChristmas2015-11-20 22:03:312015-11-20 22:03:31Holiday Decorating ideas for your yard!
Warm White Christmas Lights – The biggest benefit of the warm white Christmas lights is that they are not a harsh light – they give off a yellowish glow and are perfect for creating a warm, cozy atmosphere. If you have Christmas decorations that were purchased a few years back and they appear to give off a warm glow, they are most likely incandescent white Christmas lights. One drawback to using incandescent lights is that they draw more energy than LED lights, so you won’t find a battery-operated version since the amount of energy that it draws would kill your batteries too quickly.
LED Pure White Christmas Lights – Many people refer to LED white Christmas lights as being “cool white” because of the blue-like light that they give off. This is mainly due to the lack of light that projects out; unlike an incandescent light that “glows”. The LED white light is sharp and is great if you want your Christmas decorations to be extremely bright or if you want to achieve an icy look. There are some advantages to using LED white Christmas lights; low energy use, low breakage rate, and because of the low power they require, you can add more lights to 1 plug. The downside is that there are several manufacturers of LED white lights so it might be challenging to match up the color if you spread your purchases over the years.
LED Pure White
Warm LED white Christmas lights will fall somewhere in between the bright, LED white Christmas light and the incandescent warm, white Christmas light.
LED Warm White
LED Pure White
It glows a little bit better than cool white LED’s but won’t necessarily achieve a total incandescent look. These warm LED white Christmas lights will look similar to incandescent lights, but since they don’t pull as much energy, they can be battery-powered. This allows you to use battery-operated wreaths, garland, topiaries and other Christmas light sets while blending your ul listed trees, garland and topiaries in the same holiday display.
https://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpg00OKChristmashttps://okchristmaslights.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OKchristmasLogoHorizweb.jpgOKChristmas2015-11-19 10:28:222015-11-19 11:35:31The Differences Between Pure White LED & Warm White LED Christmas Lights
What Ice Storm Accumulations Mean and How to Stay Safe
/in Holiday Lights /by OKChristmasWhat Ice Storm Accumulations Mean and How to Stay SafeBy Chris Dolce
Published Nov 25 2015 12:37 PM EST
weather.com
00:00 / 00:00
How Much Freezing Rain is Too Much?
The Weather Channel meteorologist Paul Goodloe shows it doesn’t take much freezing rain to cause problems.
You may hear forecasters talk about ice accumulations during an ice storm and wonder, “Will I lose power, or will the roads just be slippery?”
Even a thin coating of ice can result in a travel nightmare, while heavier amounts will severely damage trees and power lines. Strong winds can add extra force to already weighed down tree branches and power lines, increasing the likelihood of significant damage.
Ice Storm Facts
Ice can increase the weight of branches by 30 times.
A 1/2-inch accumulation on power lines can add 500 pounds of extra weight.
An ice storm in 2009 centered from northern Arkansas to the Ohio Valley knocked out power to 1.3 million.
In 1998, an ice storm in northern New York and northern New England damaged millions of trees and caused $1.4 billion in damage. Accumulations were as much as three inches thick!
These ice accumulations are caused by freezing rain. Freezing rain is a result of snow falling through an above-freezing warm layer in the atmosphere above the surface of the earth, which melts the snowflakes into rain. The rain drops then move into a thin layer of below-freezing air right near the surface of the earth, allowing them to freeze on contact to the ground, trees, cars and other objects.
While accumulations of sleet can also make roads treacherous, sleet does not accumulate on trees and powerlines, so ice events with more sleet than freezing rain pose a greatly reduced threat for tree damage or power outages.
(MORE: Difference Between Freezing Rain and Sleet)
The type of precipitation we see at the ground depends not only on the temperature at the ground, but also several thousand feet above the surface.
What kind of impacts and damage do different amounts of ice cause?
“Nuisance”
A nuisance ice event is usually one of 1/4 inch or less of ice accumulation.
Even though these lighter accumulations are considered nuisance, travel can be extremely dangerous even with a light glazing.
“Disruptive”
A disruptive ice storm is typically one of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice accumulation.
This amount of ice starts to damage trees and power lines.
“Crippling”
Widespread accumulations of over 1/2 inch.
With widespread ice accumulations of over 1/2 inch, there is severe tree damage and power outages may last for days.
The most devastating storms contain ice accumulations of an inch or more.
(MORE: Winter Storm Central)
Be Prepared
Avoid driving on icy roads for your safety and the safety of emergency personnel.
Be sure to charge cell phones and laptops ahead of time. Make sure you have several ways to communicate with others. Consider landline phones, social media, and texting.
Remember, if it’s too cold for you, it’s too cold for your pets. Plan for pets to come inside, and store adequate food and water for them.
Children should never play around ice-covered trees; they may be injured if a branch breaks under the weight of the ice and falls on them.
Think about safe alternate power sources you could use if you lose heat, such as a fireplace, wood/coal stove or portable space heaters. However, be sure to exercise caution:
Follow manufacturers instructions when using portable space heaters and other devices.
Never use portable generators, camp stoves and grills inside your home or garage; they should only be used outside. Keep them at least 20 feet away from your home’s windows, doors and vents to prevent deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
Use flashlights during power outages instead of candles to prevent the risk of fire, and keep plenty of extra batteries on-hand.
Before the Power Goes Out: Food Safety
Make sure you have appliance thermometers in your refrigerator and freezer.
Check to ensure that the freezer temperature is at or below 0 degrees and the refrigerator is at or below 40 degrees.
In case of a power outage, the appliance thermometers will indicate the temperatures in the refrigerator and freezer to help you determine if the food is safe.
Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer, refrigerator, or coolers in case the power goes out. If your normal water supply is contaminated or unavailable, the melting ice will also supply drinking water.
Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerated food cold if the power will be out for more than four hours.
Purchase or make ice cubes in advance and store in the freezer for use in the refrigerator or in a cooler. Freeze gel packs ahead of time for use in coolers.
Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.
When the Power Goes Out: Food Safety
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.
A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if it is unopened.
Buy dry or block ice (or freeze containers of water) to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time.
If you plan to eat refrigerated or frozen meat, poultry, fish or eggs while it is still at safe temperatures, it’s important that each item is thoroughly cooked to the proper temperature to assure that any foodborne bacteria that may be present is destroyed. However, if at any point the food was above 40 degrees for two hours or more — discard it.
For infants, try to use prepared, canned baby formula that requires no added water. When using concentrated or powdered formulas, prepare with bottled water if the local water source is potentially contaminated.
There’s still time. We have plenty of LED lights ready to go out! Call 405-242-2250 or click today!
/in Holiday Lights /by OKChristmasSave 20% on last minute LED holiday lighting installation now through Monday. Mention code:BlackFriLED
/in Holiday Lights /by OKChristmasHappy Thanksgiving!
/in Holiday Lights /by OKChristmas#triptofandreamswithsugarplumbs
Holiday Decorating ideas for your yard!
/in Holiday Lights /by OKChristmasPathway Lights
Outline Walkways with Pathway Lights: Pathway lights are a great idea for creating a bright welcoming path to the front door. Stakes hold light strings in place. Since light stakes range from 4.5 inches to 15 inches, take into consideration the weather in your area and plan accordingly. Yards with lots of snow will need the 15 inch stake, while areas without snow will only need the 4.5 inch size. Christmas Lights, Etc has created some pathway light kits with the most popular C7 and C9 bulbs, stringers, and stakes. Choose between LED or incandescent bulbs and clear or multicolor lights.
Walkway Trees: These small trees can add some extra sparkle to your yard decorations for Christmas and come in variety of sizes. For those with walkways and no natural hedges, place walkway trees along the sidewalk to complement staked lights. Take into consideration the rest of your yard’s colors and wrap the walkway trees with complementary lights. Multicolor lights look great on walkway trees and complement cool whites. Bright colors also work as great attention grabbers.
Hang Garland on Fences: Prelit garland works well to spruce up fences and gates. Purchase prelit garlands or wrap unlit ones with lights. For fences, use it in long lengths, allowing the garland to drape slightly in between posts. Add ribbon or other decor to coordinate with your overall yard decorating scheme. Mount matching prelit wreaths on posts, windows, or doors.
Drape Icicle Lights over Fences: Hang icicle lights along fences to convey a sense of falling snow. You can also drape garland lights or mini lights in a swag display to create an attractive border around the property.
Place Starlight Stakes along walkways: Another great way to light paths and driveways is with starlight stakes. These bright balls of light can be incandescent or LED and come in many eye popping colors. Their stakes are adjustable, so you can decide how high you want them.
Starlight spheresStarlight Stakes Outline the Walkway
Hang Snowflake and Star Motifs on Gates: Another Christmas yard decoration idea is to place glittering snowflakes or shining stars on your gates to welcome visitors to your home. You can also mount them to your house or hang them from trees to create a glittering scene. These bright motifs will draw attention to your yard.
The Differences Between Pure White LED & Warm White LED Christmas Lights
/in Holiday Lights /by OKChristmasWarm White Christmas Lights – The biggest benefit of the warm white Christmas lights is that they are not a harsh light – they give off a yellowish glow and are perfect for creating a warm, cozy atmosphere. If you have Christmas decorations that were purchased a few years back and they appear to give off a warm glow, they are most likely incandescent white Christmas lights. One drawback to using incandescent lights is that they draw more energy than LED lights, so you won’t find a battery-operated version since the amount of energy that it draws would kill your batteries too quickly.
LED Pure White Christmas Lights – Many people refer to LED white Christmas lights as being “cool white” because of the blue-like light that they give off. This is mainly due to the lack of light that projects out; unlike an incandescent light that “glows”. The LED white light is sharp and is great if you want your Christmas decorations to be extremely bright or if you want to achieve an icy look. There are some advantages to using LED white Christmas lights; low energy use, low breakage rate, and because of the low power they require, you can add more lights to 1 plug. The downside is that there are several manufacturers of LED white lights so it might be challenging to match up the color if you spread your purchases over the years.
Warm LED white Christmas lights will fall somewhere in between the bright, LED white Christmas light and the incandescent warm, white Christmas light.
LED Pure White
It glows a little bit better than cool white LED’s but won’t necessarily achieve a total incandescent look. These warm LED white Christmas lights will look similar to incandescent lights, but since they don’t pull as much energy, they can be battery-powered. This allows you to use battery-operated wreaths, garland, topiaries and other Christmas light sets while blending your ul listed trees, garland and topiaries in the same holiday display.