The Ice Storm of 2008

Overnight from December 11^th to 12^th, 2008, an ice storm blanketed central New England. Much of southern Vermont, southern and Central New Hampshire, parts of western Massachusetts, and all of Massachusett's Worcester Plateau was coated in one-half to one inch of ice. In Massachusetts alone, nearly 400,000 households lost electricity, and at our home in Royalston, Massachusetts, the lights didn't come back on until December 20^th, 9-1/2 days later.

Here are some images taken by Elizabeth and me around our house after the ice storm. Clicking on any small image will open a larger high-resolution version in a new tab or browser window. All images are copyright (c) 2008 by Aaron Ellison & Elizabeth Farnsworth. Please e-mail us to obtain permission to use them in other web pages, publications, or presentations.

Early morning on December 12, the house was surrounded by ice-bent trees and the road was impassible.
Trees everywhere were sagging or fallen
Encased by ice, leaves and fruits take on an ironic beauty.
The grass crunched underfoot
Other views
The old oak lost limbs and was encased in ice but survived yet another "storm of a lifetime"
The full moon - the closest and brightest of the year - lit up the ice spectacularly
Walking up the hilltop, we were encased in ice too
The view of Mount Monadnock was glorious
The views and sunsets were spectacular, but after dark we were powered by generator
Within a couple days, the ice had melted and the trees sprang back These two pictures are of the same tree, taken three days apart.
The overall recovery can be seen in these two panoramas, also taken three days apart.

• Back to Aaron's links and diversions
• Back to Aaron's home page
• Back to Harvard Forest's home page