For many Iowans, 2007 will be remember as the year on ice. Ice storms left thousands of people across the state without power as the ice storm cause electric poles and trees to snap. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says it’s hard to tell if the Iowa was on ice more this year than the past.
Hillaker says ice storms are one of the things that’s hard to categorize in the historical records, because there isn’t a category for ice. Hillaker says the only way to find ice storms in the historical records is to try and cross-check the amount of snow with the amount of precipitation.
He says it’s very difficult to document the ice storms, but it seems they go through patterns or time periods where there are several. Hillaker says this year is an example, with the storms on December 1st and then again on the 12th. Hillaker says the 1990’s had its pattern of ice storms too.
He says in March of 1990 there was big storm that affected all of the state, and then the next year a major Halloween ice storm, and a few other events. Hillaker says we might then go for years without seeing another ice storm. Hillaker says the storm earlier this year was one of the most widespread he could remember in some time.