By: Claire MacKay-Dietrich

1. By: Claire MacKay-Dietrich

2. How was the storm caused? From January 4-10, 1998 there was a huge ice storm in eastern Canada and the United States. It was caused by a high pressure cold front (air) from the Artic colliding into the low pressure warm front (air) from the Gulf of Mexico. The warm air rose trapping the cool air and water underneath. The large ice masses were caused by supercooledrain, which is water that is just below its freezing point without turning solid until it hits something.

3. A Map of the Great Ice Storm of 1998

4. The Effect: Economic, Environment and Human The Economic Effect: As a result of the storm, most buildings had no power, so businesses like grocery stores couldn’t refrigerate their food. The government had to use their funds 3 months earlier than planned for snow plowing and maintenance (which put them in debt). Also many small businesses closed for days due to the lack of customers and electricity.

5. The Environment Effect: The biggest environmental issue were the many trees that died because of the weight of the ice. Since so many plants died, animals died too. Another problem was that many barns caved in due to the ice masses, and as a result lots of livestock and crops died. This car has been smashed by a falling tree. The paramedics search for people who are hurt or in danger.

6. The Human Effect: In Canada alone, the storm affected 5 million people. Due to frozen pipes and the loss of electricity, no water could be pumped to houses and businesses. The storm affected a lot of rural communities (people out of the city area) longer because they had less access to electricity. Many people helped the Canadian and American families by donating money including people in Mali who gave 2,000 dollars. This is an article about the ice storm from a local newspaper.

7. 6 important Facts/Statistics • The storm was the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history, it cost $5,410,184,000. • It broke the record for longest time precipitating; it was precipitating for 80 hours straight! • The storm sent 600,000 people to seek refuge in hotels or shelters and killed just under 40 people. • The Canadian Forces sent out nearly 16,000 troops to help, which is the largest ever peacetime deployment for the country.

8. The total precipitation, which in this case was freezing rain, ice pellets and snow, was 73 mm in Kingston, 85 mm in Ottawa and 100 mm south of Montreal. • Canada's largest recorded ice storms (before 1998 were), were in Ottawa in December 1986 and Montreal in February 1961, which left 30 to 40 mm of ice. This is a bench that is covered in a thick layer of ice.

9. Bibliography "10th Anniversary of the Devastating 1998 Ice Storm in the Northeast." NWSFO. NOAA, 5 Jan. 2008. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. <http://www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/events/IceStorm1998/ice98.shtml>. Boswell, Andy, Dave Rogers, Grant Ellis, Graham Hughes, and Pat Bell. "In Winter's Icy Grip." Ottawa Citizen 7 Jan. 1998, A1 sec.: A1. Print. Fleury, Maureen K. "1998 North American Big Ice Storm." Web log post. Suite. N.p., 8 Dec. 2007. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. <http://suite101.com/a/the-great-ice-storm-of-1998-a37295>. MacKay-Dietrich, Nancy. What was the ice storm of 1998 like? Claire MacKay-Dietrich. 15 January 2014. Mortillaro, Nicole. "Looking Back at the Ice Storm of 1998." Global Toronto 21 Dec. 2013 N.d. Photograph. SkyscraperPage.com. 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. <http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=168077>.

10. Neilson, Laura. "Ice Storm 1998." Historica Canada. N.p., 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/ice-storm-1998/>. "Snowstorms Throughout History." Web log post. AAA Heating AC. American Standard, Web. 15 Jan. 2014. <http://www.aaaheatingac.com/snowstorms-throughout-history/>. Wikipedia contributors. "North American Ice Storm of 1998." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 January 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Ice_Storm_of_1998>.