Birches Bent Under Ice Load
Pine Needles Encased in Ice
During the past two weeks, five storms have brought nearly every imaginable form of precipitation – snow, rain, ice pellets, freezing rain – to northern Nova Scotia, leaving the landscape white and glittering. Tree twigs are coated with up to a centimetre of ice, weighting branches and making it difficult for birds to access buds or bark insects.
Ruffed Grouse in Ice-covered Tree
Deer have taken to the roads to avoid deep, crusty snow, creating a driving hazard.
White-tailed Deer after Ice Storm
We had power through it all, but in other parts of Nova Scotia, as well as in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, snow followed by freezing rain wreaked havoc, snapping trees and downing power lines, leaving thousands of residents without heat and light for up to ten days.
Yet, the ice is beautiful, like shot silver in the sunlight. A million prisms dangle from leaves and buds, needles and faded flowers.
Ice Prisms on Faded Aster
The most intriguing storm image I saw was beech leaves dripping ice horizontally, the water presumably frozen solid while blown sideways by the wind.
Beech Leaf Ice Fingers
Do you have a story or striking image from eastern Canada’s Ice Storm 2013?
