Ice storms-even less fun that the depressing Rick Moody novel

(that was a great book and movie. Although the movie felt at times like watching an imaginary documentary about my parents. Sigourney Weaver even looks and acts just like my Mother. That part where she quoted Margaret Mead was a very weird moment for me. Anyways...)

So, we had an ice storm last week. I got what was probably a concussion when I slipped and fell on the ice. I gather that because my vision was blurry for a few hours and I was kind of confused. On the bright side, it was kind of peaceful.

Anyways, I can write about concussions and whiplash all day (who couldn't, really) but what I wanted to discuss was ice storms. I was curious about what causes this shit-tastic phenomenon. Apparently, the cause is a layer of warm air trapped between two layers of cold air which causes snow to melt and then rapidly re-freeze on its way down. This other website says you also need near 100% humidity.

The thickest ice storm on record was in Idaho in 1961, where they recorded 8 inches. I knew there was a reason I didn't want to live in Idaho (although the Mormons are reason enough.) I can't find exact numbers but all of the local sites say we should have gotten 1/2 to 1".

This site is written for kids but has some good info nevertheless.

It could have been worse. The Northeast got it bad. And Chicago, as usual. And I didn't lose power like a lot of people here. Wintertime sucks dick, to paraphrase Louisa May Alcott.