Today is the 15th anniversary of the 2002 ice storm

[BullCityWx]

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/20021204/

I would say this was the scariest event I've ever experienced. 

[jjwxman]

Nothing like the sound of trees falling and transformers popping, and the sight of greens and purples dancing in the night skies. I'm with you, I NEVER want to experience that again.

[LithiaWx]

13 minutes ago, Queencitywx said:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/20021204/

I would say this was the scariest event I've ever experienced. 

Is this the LC storm where he wished you guys got hit with an inch of ice?  He didn’t buy into Insitu CAD?

[Steven_1974]

I remember that night vividly. I didn't get much sleep at all worried that one of the many pine trees around my house was going to snap and fall on the house. Kept hearing them drop all night while transformers blew. A branch ou of a massive pine tree fell and just sideswiped the house. Thankfully the car wasn't in the driveway or it would have been crushed. I jumped in the air and ran across the house thinking it was all going to come down. I never want to go through that again.

[Stormsfury]

5 minutes ago, LithiaWx said:

Is this the LC storm where he wished you guys got hit with an inch of ice?  He didn’t buy into Insitu CAD?

No that event happened later in the decade where the conditions were more in situ wedging was involved but very cold and jeld steadfast.   The 2002 event was well forecasted with exceptional wedging and a constant resupply of cold, dry air feeding down below robust moisture transport. 

[wncsnow]

I remember this storm. It started off as 3 or 4 inches of snow/sleet then ended as .25-.50 ZR in McDowell County. I was in 10th grade at the time and remember being out of school for a bit. It was a good sledding storm for WNC 

[LongForWinter]

I lost a student to a house fire during the aftermath. 8 years old. His family was using their fireplace to heat the house. The family evacuated the house safely but for some reason, he darted back in and never made it out again. Matthew...

[lookingnorth]

I was 4 at the time. It's the earliest weather event I have any memory of. I woke up, the power was out, and I was scared. My mom asked me if I heard tree branches falling down, but I slept thru it. We used candles for light some of the time, but the flickering scared me. Also, we tried going out to eat once but the lines were really long. I can't remember if we just waited or went home. Also, I was confused by the fact that light switches and electrical outlets were powered from the same source. I remember my mom commenting on how cold it was, but I don't remember it actually being cold.

[YetAnotherRDUGuy]

Random tidbits I remember:

• This hit early enough in the season that some trees still had leaves on them, which made the damage that much worse.
• Most ice storms in the SE tend to hit one day/night, then mostly melt the next day. This one didn't. The combination of high ice accretion and cold temperatures made this a 2 or 3 day event weather wise (even with full sun during those days). Branches were still falling 2 or 3 days later.
• Someone mentioned the sound of trees/branches cracking. That sound is probably the most enduring one I remember from this event.
• Despite the tree damage, the almost 1'' ice accretion in my area produced some unbelievably beautiful imagery. Especially when the sun first came out.

Also, this winter event made me respect ice storms in a way I never had before. I would honestly take 30'' of all snow, or 10'' of sleet, over 1'' of ice accretion from freezing rain any day. It's not even close.

Winter storms are fun until your power goes out. For a week.

[NCSNOW]

Back yard was Ground Zero for this storm. Spent 8 1/2 Days without power. Whole county lost power. Worst ice storm I ever care to witness. Skiff of snow and some sleet then well overr a inch qpf freezing rain with temps around 21 degrees the entire event. Timber took a brutal beating needless to say. 

[HKY_WX]

7 inches of snow/up in hickory followed by a 1/3 in of zr. Crazy storm w unreal qpf totals. That storm really started the modern nc weather message board core that has continued to this board today. 

[BullCityWx]

2 minutes ago, HKY_WX said:

7 inches of snow/up in hickory followed by a 1/3 in of zr. Crazy storm w unreal qpf totals. That storm really started the modern nc weather message board core that has continued to this board today. 

Yep, that and 1/23/03. Thunder freezing rain that night, with lightning. Don’t think I’ll ever see it again.

[FLweather]

13 hours ago, Queencitywx said:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/20021204/

I would say this was the scariest event I've ever experienced. 

I remember that.  Second scariest weather event I went through.  First scariest event was the Great FL hailstorm.  Had hail laying on the ground the size of oranges and tangerines. 

[Hoosier]

4 minutes ago, FLweather said:

I remember that.  Second scariest weather event I went through.  First scariest event was the Great FL hailstorm.  Had hail laying on the ground the size of oranges and tangerines. 

Are you talking about the March 1992 hail storm by chance?

[FLweather]

1 hour ago, Hoosier said:

Are you talking about the March 1992 hail storm by chance?

Yep.  The year that hit OIA with a tornado. Skimmed across my area hit Orlando international with a tornado. Major hail core. 

[Hoosier]

4 minutes ago, FLweather said:

Yep.  The year that hit OIA with a tornado. Skimmed across my area hit Orlando international with a tornado. Major hail core. 

I was 8 years old and on spring break and visiting Disney World with my parents. That storm remains one of my indelible weather memories to this day.  We were leaving the park when it hit and all hell broke loose.  I remember the trees bending over and looking like they were going to snap.  Also had hail but missed the largest stuff.  I remember my parents telling my sister and I to cover our heads because they were afraid the car windows were going to break. As a kid, it was scary experiencing a storm like that while in a vehicle.   

[jburns]

21 hours ago, NCSNOW said:

Back yard was Ground Zero for this storm. Spent 8 1/2 Days without power. Whole county lost power. Worst ice storm I ever care to witness. Skiff of snow and some sleet then well overr a inch qpf freezing rain with temps around 21 degrees the entire event. Timber took a brutal beating needless to say. 

Just a couple of miles north of you. It was a nasty one.  My trees still show the scars.  However, I only lost power for 30 minutes on the second day when they turned it off to fix something further down the line. I was amazed we basically never lost power. We have been out for three days during smaller events since. A lot of it is just luck.

[Iceagewhereartthou]

On 12/4/2017 at 10:37 AM, Queencitywx said:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/20021204/

I would say this was the scariest event I've ever experienced. 

Significant for my area as well, but I would go with Feb 94 for the worst in my back yard- wow on that one.

[Rankin5150]

On 12/4/2017 at 11:43 PM, HKY_WX said:

7 inches of snow/up in hickory followed by a 1/3 in of zr. Crazy storm w unreal qpf totals. That storm really started the modern nc weather message board core that has continued to this board today. 

I remember having to sleep with my Family in the Living Room by the Gas Fireplace. We had just brought our Daughter home from the hospital, where she had been there for 2 months in the Neo Natal Intensive Care. No power for a week. Tree Limbs and even trees down everywhere it seemed. Yes, that started the core group of peeps that I still see around to this day.