12/21/08 Ice Storm Part: II

Ice accumulation from Thursday nights ice storm glistening under the sun

Here's Part: II of my Ice Storm post. I added some pictures from this morning as the sun finally broke really showcasing the ice storm from a couple days ago and today's "ground blizzard". We received 1" of snowfall yesterday allowing for white-out conditions this morning as the arctic front slammed west-central Illinois and the Midwest with howling winds 20-30mph. Last night, the power "flickered" for a brief moment, but I was surprised after all the banging outside that we didn't lose power and have any tree damage. Many outages did occur in surrounding areas however. This morning temperatures were well below zero with wind chills in warning criteria. That also gave me a reason to boil water and toss it into the air. Hey, what else can you do when it's below-zero outside...seriously?

Interesting effect with the early morning sun angle on these ice-covered trees

Lighthouse this morning with an icy glaze on our fence

Focus your attention to the upper left, simply amazing what nature can do...(Click to enlarge)

A picturesque lonesome ice-coated tree

Outdoor furniture with some large icicles (Click to enlarge)

Ice-coated bush in the "fresh powder"

Icicles everywhere...

Boiling water fun...

Boiling water turning into a cloud in below-zero temperatures

A row of trees along a country road crackling in the howling wind

The swing "snow-blasted"

One of the many different winter scenes you can find

This country road 650E snow & ice covered

White-out conditions and dangerous wind-chill values will keep me inside the rest of the day. I'm currently tracking another "snow maker" for Tues-Wed that could put down a good amount of snow across much of Illinois...just in time for the holidays.