Back to back storms knock out power for most of town

By Russell Russ

December’s weather started out in a deceptively quiet manner, with the first ten days being relatively normal, without much recorded precipitation. Then came the ice storm of December 11 and 12. This storm was a classic example, showing how important elevation is in relation to levels of precipitation. With the general cut-off line of 1000 feet in elevation there was a marked difference in the way Norfolk experienced this storm. Below 1000 feet there was mostly just rain, but above it there was rain and damaging freezing rain. The higher the elevation the more ice there was on the trees and power lines. Winsted and Canaan had minimal ice while many parts of Norfolk and Colebrook had upwards of one quarter of an inch of ice build-up. Just over the Massachusetts line the damage was even worse. Power was knocked out in many parts of the region for days. It was obvious that we were in for trouble when, on the afternoon of December 10, the temperature dropped nearly 10 degrees between 2 and 2:15 p.m. At 2 p.m. it was 55 degrees and by 5 p.m. it was 38 degrees. From December 10 at 2 a.m. to December 11 at 8 a.m. we recorded 1.12 inches from rain and rain showers. From December 11 at 8 a.m. to December 12 at 10:30 a.m. we recorded 3.30 inches of rain and freezing rain. Here in Norfolk we made it through most of the day on December 11 with mostly just rain, but then during the late evening and into the early hours of December 12 the ice began to build and that is when much of the damage occurred. All night long and into the daylight hours of December 12 “pops” and “crashes” of branches and whole trees breaking from the weight of the ice could be heard. On the Great Mountain Forest property the roads were desolate. Many trees and branches blocked miles of the woods roads. After a few days of clean-up we managed to at least cut our way through a good portion of our road network. With the roads scheduled to be closed for vehicles at the season’s first significant snow, it was a rush to make them passable for skiers while we could still drive in. Then the snow hit. It began about noon on December 19 and continued to fall at a moderate to heavy rate until about 9 p.m. There were nearly seven inches of snow by 5 p.m. In all, we recorded eight inches of snow from this storm. The totals from all over the state ranged from 4 to 10 inches. It snowed off and on all day on December 20, when we recorded 2.5 inches. Snow fell again during the morning and afternoon of December 21, leaving us with an additional five inches on the ground. Looking at the monthly totals through December 22, Norfolk is at 18.3 inches for snowfall, already almost one inch over the normal December monthly total. We have measured 7.20 inches of total precipitation during this same period, already 2.62 inches over the normal monthly total. With November and early December being relatively dry and snow free, these two weeks in December were big reminders of what Norfolk can experience for winter weather. In early December everyone was wondering if we would be having another warm winter without much snow, but if these last two weeks are any indication of what is to come, then we had better buckle up for a good old- fashioned Norfolk roller coaster winter. Russell Russ is a forester at the Great Mountain Forest and a weather observer for the National Weather Service. He has provided this summary of December’s stormy weather as recorded at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2 SW, by the Great Mountain Forest Corporation.