The Ice Storm of 2022

Ice Cold

Last week, we had what we are calling the Ice Storm of 2022. Hopefully, that isn’t premature. I’m counting on us not having another big ice storm this year, but who knows? After all, we did already have some ice this year, as well as some snow, but neither of those was a major storm as this last one was.

At least for us, the 2022 Ice Storm was not as severe as the Ice Storm of 1994. That is measured in terms of length of power outage. This time around, we were without power for around 21 hours, compared to 3 days in 1994. However, some in Memphis still do not have power as of this writing, so for them, it is every bit as bad as the 1994 storm was.

And of course, I took some photos. If you are going to be cold due to no power, you might as well take some photos to share. So here are just a few. Yes, there are a lot of photos in this post, but they are just a fraction of what I actually took. You’re welcome.

Icy Day

These two trees show some of the effects of ice, particularly in the pine tree at the right. Those limbs hanging low on the right of the pine tree were actually damaged due to snow and ice from the previous winter, so they were already weakened before this ice weighed them down. You will be happy to know that they have now sprung back up to their normal state.

Turning just a bit to the right, you can see ice on all of the trees off in the distance. You can also see that there was not any snow on the ground, although we did get just a very light dusting. However, all of those blades of grass are also covered in ice, although it does not show up here.

Here is one more view. These photos above are all from Friday, which was the day after the storm came through. It was a pretty gloomy-looking day, but there is still beauty to be seen in all of these photos. Plus, in this last photo, there are deer running away, too. You can see some in the pasture at the left, and another one inside the fence near the bottom center of the photo. I guess I stirred them up by going outside.

For these photos above, I just ran out on the front porch with my camera to take a few photos before running back inside. I was already cold just from being in the house without any heat, so I did not want to stay out there very long and get even colder.

But the next day was a little different…

A Sunny Day

On Saturday, the sun came out. Yes, it did melt a good bit of the ice. However, before the melting started, the sun really lit up the ice in the trees. I took my camera outside with me when we went to feed the horses, and I was glad I did.

As you can see, Bubba was ready to be fed, waiting patiently by the fence. He was wearing his insulated blanket because it had gotten down into the teens Friday night and into Saturday morning. Fortunately, our power had returned around noon on Friday, so we were able to be warm inside.

The more the sun came up, the more the icy trees began to gleam. You can see lots of them here in the background. You can also see Daisy in her stall, as she has to stay in during really cold weather due to her health issues.

Isn’t it interesting how different some ice can make everything look? Isn’t it interesting how your outlook on that ice can change when you are no longer freezing inside the house?

This day was almost the complete opposite of the previous day. Instead of being overcast and gray, the sky was clear and blue, with lots of sun. Laura said to take lots of photos because we wouldn’t have this again. I said, “I hope not!”

Ice is pretty harsh on evergreen trees such as our pine and cedar trees. But at the same time, it is very interesting to see.

With a little backlighting from the sun, the ice shines even more, as can be seen in this crape myrtle tree. The cedar trees in the background are bowing in submission to the ice.

Here are more trees showing off their brilliance in the light of the sun. This almost looks like some sort of alien world with white trees. Just don’t stand underneath them as the sun warms things up, or you will have a constant shower of water and ice falling on your head!

How many photos of icy trees are too many? We will stop with this one, just in case we are under the limit here. Again, the cedar trees at the right look to be suffering, but they ended up just fine after everything melted. And I liked this view with the horse pasture gate, too.

Wrapping Up

Whenever we have a forecast of an ice storm, those of us who remember the 1994 storm get a little anxious because we know how it can be. And now this generation has had a taste of it as well.

If you are wondering, an ice storm is when the upper atmosphere is warm enough that the precipitation falls as rain, but the air temperatures closer to the ground are cold enough for the rainwater to freeze wherever it lands. In addition to being harmful to trees, it can also be harmful to power lines when it weighs them down.

Our rural electric cooperative called in help in the form of repair crews from neighboring electric cooperatives. We are very thankful for all those who worked out in the cold, wet, and ice day and night to restore power to our area. They are heroes!

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. - Romans 13:7

About the Photos

I mentioned previously that I took these photos on two different days. But I did not mention that I also used two different lenses. For the Friday photos (the gray, overcast ones), I used the 50mm prime lens to get the look that I wanted. For the Saturday photos (the sunny ones), I used the 28-70mm zoom lens, so that I could get a wider angle and get more of the trees in the frame.

I also used some processing in Luminar AI to bring out the colors and the winter look just a bit more. Just accentuating what was already there.

Photos: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Luminar AI. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens and Sony FE 50mm f/1.8
Date: February 4 and 5, 2022
Location: Home, Williston, Tennessee