January 1998 ice storm: northern New York and northern New England

5–9 January 1998 · Northern New York and northern New England, plus two Canadian provinces

Days of rain fell through a shallow layer of freezing air over northern New York and northern New England, coating everything in ice. Power lines and trees came down across four states and two Canadian provinces, and heavy rain on melting snow brought record river flooding at the same time.

What happened

  • Ice accumulations exceeded three inches, and rainfall exceeded four inches in some areas. [2]
  • The Black River at Watertown, New York crested two feet above its previous flood of record; more than 1,000 homes were evacuated. [2]
  • Counties declared federal disaster areas: 16 in Maine, 6 in New York, 6 in Vermont and 9 in New Hampshire. [2]
  • The NWS service assessment put conservative damage estimates at close to half a billion dollars, with agricultural losses above one million dollars as farmers could not milk their cows without electricity. [2]

Deaths

  • 16 deaths in NCEI's billion-dollar disaster record ("Northeast Ice Storm"). [1]
  • The NWS service assessment says only seven fatalities were directly attributed to the event. [2]

Official counts differ when they cover different areas or count only deaths caused directly by the weather. Both are shown; neither is adjusted here.

Power outages

  • More than three million people in four states and two Canadian provinces were without electricity; in Maine, 80% of the population lost power, some for more than two weeks. [2]

Cost

$1.4 billion at the time, or $2.7 billion adjusted for inflation by NCEI [1]. NCEI's record name: Northeast Ice Storm (January 1998).

States named in the sources used here: New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine.

Questions

When was the January 1998 ice storm?

5–9 January 1998, across: Northern New York and northern New England, plus two Canadian provinces.

How many people died?

16 deaths in NCEI's billion-dollar disaster record ("Northeast Ice Storm"). The NWS service assessment says only seven fatalities were directly attributed to the event.

Sources

  1. NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, events 1980-2024
  2. NWS Service Assessment: "The Ice Storm and Flood of January 1998"

US government sources are public domain. Figures are quoted as the sources give them; this site has not added to or adjusted them.

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