Ice storm

[spud]

It is 28 degrees and raining at my house. Looking out the kitchen window I see one big maple came down. I sure hope I don't loose a bunch of trees. I hope everyone else is doing good.

Spud

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Just got out of the woods and it aint pretty! We have 1/2 inch of ice on everything and they are predicting that the rain will continue for the next 36 hours. Highest temps are supposed to be 32 tomorrow PM for a couple of hours and then start to drop. No thaws in the forecast for 10 days after that. I lived through the storm in 98 and saw the damage done. We were 19 days without grid power. Don't want to ever do that again!

[pmack]

Not good in Russell either ! Same deal as DeKalb, 1/2 inch and more to come.......
I pray the weather experts are wrong !!! Trees and deer are going to suffer .....

[maple flats]

Let's all pray they are wrong. Down in CNY, (25 miles due East of Syracuse) we have rain and 43 degrees. I just returned from getting supplies at my Dealer in Taberg (just 30 minutes north), there it was only 37 degrees.

[Moser's Maple]

holding 42 degrees here in Lewis County. I don't want to wish bad on others...just hoping we don't get the ice. remember picking up the collateral damage from the last ice storm, and was hoping to never have to do that again. praying for you guys with the ice that your woods holds strong!!

[Shawn]

We have had rain showers off and on all day in the forties here, farther north its ice in VT and NH. Looks as if here lows tonight will be 37 and hard rain starts tonight and in the 50's Sunday with rain and then colder Monday. We were to get ice and had prepared for it.

[vtmapleman]

Currently temp is 31.7 - ice starting to form on the trees...I can only hope that the sugar bush being at 1300' we will not get much ice build up.

[Shawn]

Hope for the best. Its raining harder here now. Talked to daughter in Milton VT and have ice, talked to buddy in Pittsburg NH and rain but turning to ice. Been thier once with ice and snapping trees left and right.:o

[GeneralStark]

Was 50 here earlier this afternoon but now hovering around freezing. We had 1/4" of ice glaze last night but it all melted pretty quick this morning. Overnight tonight is the big event. Hopefully we can all avoid any major damage. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone. This may be a stressful night for sugarmakers in northern NY, VT, NH, Maine and in SE Canada.

[Shawn]

Yo Bristol, Grew up in Middlebury, left in 1980.:cool:

[DucFight]

I think Dr Tim Jinxed us with all this talk of being able to collect sap from saplings in the event of a major ice storm damaging crop trees. :mad:

[steam maker]

35.4 degrees on the camp thermometer here in pittsburg new hampshire , we are down by the old top gas now called trading post . Rained most of the day off znd on got a few miles on the sled but got real wet doing it. Supose to get snow up here tonight i guess . The ice is supose to stay south of us !!!! Perfect for tommorows ride home . 😤 good luck to all tonight

[Shawn]

We can only hope that all goes well in this storm. We are lucky so far here, just rain. North of us crossing fingers:rolleyes:

[twobears1224]

so far I,ve been right on the edge of the ice..last night it started to get thick then it warmed up before daylight.we,ve had rain all day.i,am not sure what it,s doing now..to afraid to look..we lost our old bush in 98 to the ice storm...by the weather tonight and tomorrow looks like the worst for us..i hope there wrong..(knock on wood)

[Starting Small]

so far I,ve been right on the edge of the ice..last night it started to get thick then it warmed up before daylight.we,ve had rain all day.i,am not sure what it,s doing now..to afraid to look..we lost our old bush in 98 to the ice storm...by the weather tonight and tomorrow looks like the worst for us..i hope there wrong..(knock on wood)
When you guys talk about the ice destroying the bush, I am guessing you mean downed limbs and downed trees. Are trees untappable after they lose limbs from a storm like this?
-Dave

[Mark]

Good luck everyone. hope you don't get any damage.
I was feeling bad about my 1/4" of ice a few weeks ago and the sagging lines now with a foot of snow over them, I don't feel so bad now. I stayed up all night listening to the rain and watching the temp.

[spud]

Just got power back after being out for a few hours. I lost signal on my tv so I went to check the dish. There was 1/2 inch of ice over the whole thing so I chipped it all off and and have tv again. All my trees are covered with ice. I walked down to the sugar house 300 feet away and I heard a big crash so I know one of my big maples just fell. Lost two so far. I sure hope a tree does not come down on a booster. I wish everyone the best.

Spud

[PARKER MAPLE]

Good luck to everyone in the north country. I hope you weather this storm well. We are in sth Vt just getting rain at the present time and temps in high 30s. Hope all of you guy effect by this ice come out ok
MR

[Randy Brutkoski]

We are getting a lot of ice right now. it wasn't supposed to be cold enough right here but they were wrong again. This could be real bad.

[Moser's Maple]

When you guys talk about the ice destroying the bush, I am guessing you mean downed limbs and downed trees. Are trees untappable after they lose limbs from a storm like this?
-Dave
we too lost a big chunk of our woods from the '98 storm. the first wave after the storm hit was down trees....more than just maple. in our case we have maple, beech and cherry saplings that were across roads, lines, and just bent over creating very dangerous spring poles all over the woods. many of our crop trees lost large limbs off the trees that consequently fell onto our tubing lines breaking fittings, crushing tubing..etc.... we weren't hit as hard as others, but still struggled to tap 900 out of the 3000 we tapped at the time. the secondary effect was the trees that took the damage from the storm started to die off in the next few years. we noticed zones in our woods that hit the hardest all the crop trees started to die off, and many of up coming saplings that were there had been bent over and snapped, or we had to cut because they did not recover and stand straight again. so in our case where we once had a full uniform woods, we now have not dead areas, but areas that have no tapable trees. some of these areas range from 100x100 feet up to 500x500 feet. i hope this helps you understand what can happen. thanks for the question

[Bruce L]

A good 5/8" of ice here right now.Just went outside and it is really sheeting down,seems to be what I would call cane sugar snow,can't shovel it,hard to walk in it.Tv dish is flickering in and out,going to fill the tub with water,seasoned by '98, will walk into the bush tomorrow with fingers crossed.Good luck to all

[Rhino]

Hate to even read about this guys. ice storms, tornadoes and sugar bushes don't go well with each other. I hope it don't get to bad for you all over there. All the pre work on a normal year that has to be done, noone needs this on top of it.

[eagle lake sugar]

That's the one advantage we have living in the northern tip of Maine. We seldom get freezing rain in the winter. Looking at the southern Maine/ New Hampshire forecasts, it's upper 20's or lower 30's but here, the high today is 13 degrees. Now, if only we didn't have to drive 5+ hours to get supplies or trudge through 4 ft. of snow all winter! I hope everything works out o.k. for you guys. Steve

[GeneralStark]

27 degrees and freezing fog here at the moment after a low of 23 degrees early this am. Still have power though north of here there are widespread outages. We received about 1.5" of sleet and about .25" of ice overnight. The sleet was is a very good thing as it does not stick to trees and power lines. Trees are glazed but no major issues as of yet. Supposed to warm up to 40s and I hope it does to melt all this ice before we go back to the deep freeze. This weather is good for nothing, but at least I got the roof on the new sugarhouse before it came. Good luck everyone!

[RC Maple]

Hate to hear about all the ice and freezing rain. Hopefully the trees are taking it ok. Thankfully it's done raining here now. My crick bottom woods is running full with water - haven't seen it this high since 2007. I've spent a lot of time cleaning up branches and limbs and other debris down there. Looks like I get to do a lot more of it when it dries out. Good luck.

[rayi]

Good luck to all the ice people. Wish there was something I could do to help

[GeneralStark]

I just got off the phone with a friend who works for the state of VT in Emergency Management. Looks like the Richford, Montgomery, Jay area was pretty hard hit and there are widespread power outages. Fortunately the weather service thinks the worst is over but we may not be hearing from Spud for some time. I'm hoping all is well up there.

[drpud]

Hope everyone has weathered the ice storm with minimal damage to person and property. Just came in from a walk through our bush (75 acres) and so far so good. Damage seems limited to some of our larger pines and spruce trees and most of the ice has come off the trees which is a good thing cause now the wind is picking up. Good luck to all.
Paul

[red maples]

forecast says we might get a little ice tonight here in southern NH. looks like it flirt a with the freezing line then warm up a bit on over night probably a little then. Not like I have seen picks for like the upper crust there. Saw a pic for watertown NY WOW cars just engulfed ice. just as long as its not like '08 that was BAD!! Some guys lost entire woods on that one!!! we had no power for a week!!!

[DucFight]

Things are horrible here in Berkshire. Sounded like people falling trees in the woods all day. I hate to even go look. Still freezing rain here now :-(

[gmcooper]

So far here in spite of the forecast have had very little icing. Just a glazing over branches and anything else exposed. Temp has finally dropped below freezing and is about 28. Very little precipitation all day. I'm ok with that. Sorry to read where others are getting hit hard with ice.

[BAP]

Hope everybody fares well from this. I live in the southwestern side of New Hampshire in the Connecticut River Valley and we hit 55 degrees here today with rain. We had over 18 inches of snow on the ground before this hit and now it is mostly bare ground and lots of mud. Dirt roads are falling apart. We to were hit by past ice storms and it is not fun. I can still see damage in my lot from the 98 and other ice storms.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

don't think we got enough ice here to cause to much damage if any. will go out tomorrow after work and take a look.

[Drew Pond Maple]

A little freezing drizzle now here in central NH (Plymouth). Just got below freezing a couple of hours ago and everything is freezing pretty hard. Made it through last night with no ice. Sorry to hear of all you northern ME, NH, VT & NYers and Canadians that have been hit with this storm.

[Moser's Maple]

spard here in Croghan, NY
Watertown/Jefferson County, and St. Lawrence County not so lucky.
here are a few pics from Watertown, NY

[K&GMapleProducts]

Barton Vt.82438244

[firetech]

Mid Mich is a diasater. We had an inch of ice on the trees Sunday am. Sun am it was snap crackle pop thud every tree on my place is damaged expect for my small maples. It looks like the oaks,boxelders and popple were wourest hit. My service mast is on the ground,the drop from the main ciruit is down the main feeders are down and that's just at my place. I haven't been to the suagrbush to look. Trying to keep the generator running and sump pumps dry. I'll have to pull the memebranes to the RO tonite, drian all the water line in the sugarhouse. Temps held for the teens for the rest of teh week. Merry Chrismas to ALL!!!

[red maples]

We have a little ice coating now but its starting to warm up a bit. its 33* now. still suppose to hit 40* here.

[ennismaple]

Mid Mich is a diasater. We had an inch of ice on the trees Sunday am. Sun am it was snap crackle pop thud every tree on my place is damaged expect for my small maples. It looks like the oaks,boxelders and popple were wourest hit. My service mast is on the ground,the drop from the main ciruit is down the main feeders are down and that's just at my place. I haven't been to the suagrbush to look. Trying to keep the generator running and sump pumps dry. I'll have to pull the memebranes to the RO tonite, drian all the water line in the sugarhouse. Temps held for the teens for the rest of teh week. Merry Chrismas to ALL!!!

Sorry to hear that Firetech. I hope your woods fares OK without too much damage and you can be ready by spring.

Luckily our woods was far enough north relative to the weather system that came through that we didn't get the freezing rain - just ice pellets. We got hammered in 1998 and lot over half our trees and it took us a long time to recover.

[DrTimPerkins]

We got about 1/2+" of ice at our camp in Newport, VT. The neighbors maples lost a few limbs, but came through pretty well. The birch right next to them came down, and the willow on the property line with our neighbor got really hammered, as did a lot of the pine trees back behind us. We never lost power. Apparently we didn't lose power (other than momentarily) at our house in Richmond either.

Brian Stowe (UVM PMRC Sugaring Operations Manager) just emailed that we have only light icing and little damage at the Proctor Center (very thankful for that), but that areas around Jeffersonville and Cambridge look bad.

8246 8245

[Bruce L]

Just got back from the bush and so far so good. I would say there is about 3/8" of ice on everything,nothing major down yet that I can see. Tough to walk into though,crust supports my weight for several feet,then every other step you crash through. To those who got hit hard we feel your pain, my Father said he could not face another ice storm now like in '98 , especially after just losing Mom. The worst part is not just the damage done now, but for many years to come

[DrTimPerkins]

I think Dr Tim Jinxed us with all this talk of being able to collect sap from saplings in the event of a major ice storm damaging crop trees.

Maybe not that, but perhaps in another way. My wife told me the other night I had to go to church in the morning since her brother was singing in the chorus. I told her I'd go "when he** freezes over." Woke up to ice-covered everything. Ironically -- church was cancelled.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Power off most of the day here. Spent about 5 hours in the woods. Limbs constantly breaking and falling. No thaw in sight. zero tonight and 15 below tomorrow night. Might warm up enough to snow on Thursday. There is over an inch of ice on everything. As of now, damage in the woods is not as bad as '98 but as long as the ice stays on, more damage is occurring.

[western mainer]

We got 1/2 inch of ice here the wind is going to pick up tonight.
Brian

[pmack]

well, just got power back on at 7:30 pm (Monday) after nearly 3 days. the fmily faired well; the trees, not so well ! 3/4 - inch of ice on everything. Much like Thompson's in DeKalb, gonna be **** cold and no thaw in sight. Midnight last nite sounded like a war zone. We have a brand new sugarhouse and 2X10 vortex rig and prolly no trees to tap.... WTH

[chevypower]

Well, as Ducfight said earlier Berkshire was hit hard and limbs are still snapping today... With no thaw in sight it's going to be extremely bad for us. We haven't even really ventured into the woods because of the unsafe conditions but just a view of the outskirts of the sugar bush is enough to turn my stomach... not sure where to go from here :(

[morningstarfarm]

My thoughts are with you all...please be safe out there

[noreast maple]

Same here, thoughts and prayers to all of you.

[DucFight]

8247824882498250 Here are a few pictures from Berkshire. A couple are in my yard. The mainline is 1.5" to give you an idea how much ice there is.

[DrTimPerkins]

Here are a few pictures from Berkshire. A couple are in my yard. The mainline is 1.5" to give you an idea how much ice there is.

I'll post more later, but one thing we learned from the 1998 ice storm is that maple trees have an amazing capacity to recover from crown damage (as long as there are no other major stress factors going on). So in your early attempts to clean up after this storm damage, don't just cut down everything with damage right off. Better to take a "wait and see" approach. Obviously take down trees that pose a safety hazard, but you can leave maple trees with crown loss up to 75% in hopes they will recover. Many trees in some areas in 1998 looked like telephone poles - many of these recovered. More later on this subject.

[twobears1224]

we got power back around 4pm Monday and the cable/web just alittle while ago.(noon Tuesday) it was tough for awhile.we seemed to be right on the edge of the ice..one minute it was freezing on bad then it would get just warm enough to stop.the trees did get coated in ice tho and a lot of small limbs came down.but,we wokeup Monday morning to the ice mostly melted off that was a total surprise..but very welcome sight.but just alittle ways from here is a different story.our old sugarbush got it again.my uncles house is still there and seeing how he got hurt in a icy fall not long ago he moved to his daughter house to recover.a tree came down and took the power off his house and a guy acrossed the road called about it.i went down and check it out.i was there about a hour and in that time it was steady falling limbs and trees.dad went down the next morning and the trees where still falling and there was limbs on the house and all around it.northwest of me and west of me got it bad.theres still people without power.
I took a trip over to my new lease and that got it bad too.there was a lot of big limbs down and a few trees.i plan on going over later to see if the ice melted off..i hope so,
I,am sorry that some of you guys had big losses..we all work way to hard and love what we do way to much to lose our trees for any reason..

[PACMAN]

I went and looked at my bush sunday and there is a little less than a 1/4 inch on the trees. The bush is at 2200 ft. and the ice didnt get bad up there, but at camp thats only a mile down the mountain there is an inch of ice on everything. My treeslooked ok and no limbs down.I hope everyone fares ok.

[spud]

Spent an hour looking at my woods and things could have been much worse. Although I lost a few big maples the rest is limbs that have come down here and there. I have a crew of 4 guy's coming on Monday or Tuesday with chain saws to clean things up and get me ready to tap. We had lost power for 3 1/2 days but it came on last night at five. I wish everyone the best.

Spud

[DucFight]

Spud, can't be all the ice is off your trees yet. I know here in Berkshire nothing has come off yet and now the snow is adding up on top of the ice. You guys feel safe enough getting in there with trees still waiting to fall. Best of luck to you. I hope our woods is no worse than yours, I just don't want to take a chance going in to check it out yet. If you guys get all cleaned up and are bored you can come up here. lol

[Thad Blaisdell]

Spud, if you need a hand let me know, I am more than willing to come up and help.

[vtmapleman]

I really lucked out - the temperature went up to 37 a couple of nights ago and melted all the ice. I potential lost one tree - will wait and see what happens this summer before cutting down - there is a lot of small branches that came down; however, no main lines were hit - just branch lines. I can only pray that other sugar makers are just as lucky.

[Tweegs]

We were spared the worst of it here. Lost power Sunday morning, got it back Monday evening.
Lines down just up the road, I had a pine snap and was resting on the wires.

Went to Church Sunday about 40 miles east of here. There, after the service, the ice was all but gone, same with the snow. Here at the house, however, it was still thick on everything. In fact, most of the trees still have ice clinging and 3” of new snow last night.

Just got in from cutting wood. Got a good look at the lot. Minimal damage. Lost 1 hollow Maple, a couple of Beech, branches down on some of the Oaks, some of the dead and still standing Ash came down, but the Maples are largely unscathed. The worst of it passed west and North of us, right through Firetech’s place. Hope it really isn’t as bad as it sounds, Firetech.

[spud]

Spud, if you need a hand let me know, I am more than willing to come up and help.

Thanks Thad,

We should be able to get things done with the crew coming on Monday. We are a bit concerned being in the woods but I think we will try it. Our plan was to have the kids put all the CV2 spouts on the drops during their school vacation. We now plan to keep the kids out of the woods until the ice is gone (the day they go back to school no doubt). I came down with some head cold and I feel like crap so I hope I will feel better for Monday. Thank you though for your offer to help.

Spud

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Thanks Thad,

We should be able to get things done with the crew coming on Monday. We are a bit concerned being in the woods but I think we will try it. Our plan was to have the kids put all the CV2 spouts on the drops during their school vacation. We now plan to keep the kids out of the woods until the ice is gone (the day they go back to school no doubt). I came down with some head cold and I feel like crap so I hope I will feel better for Monday. Thank you though for your offer to help.

Spud
just clear a ADA path for him spud his wheel chair is pretty wide. hope you have room in front yard for the short bus to pull in and turn around :mrgreen:

[Shawn]

For what ever, In Pittsburg NH I spent eight hours in a Piston Bully grooming trails and going maybe two feet and cutting trees from the ice. These guys and gals bust hump up here. And for what ever I am ready for bed. The ice storm had left its mark and a ton of work to be done.

[Thad Blaisdell]

Offer stands.

[ennismaple]

I'll post more later, but one thing we learned from the 1998 ice storm is that maple trees have an amazing capacity to recover from crown damage (as long as there are no other major stress factors going on). So in your early attempts to clean up after this storm damage, don't just cut down everything with damage right off. Better to take a "wait and see" approach. Obviously take down trees that pose a safety hazard, but you can leave maple trees with crown loss up to 75% in hopes they will recover. Many trees in some areas in 1998 looked like telephone poles - many of these recovered. More later on this subject.

Agreed Dr Tim. While we lost many trees outright and were assessed at an average 56% crown loss, many of the maples did recover over time. We did not tap at all in 1998 and tapped very little the two years following. A lot of trees did die (partly due to gypsy moth infestations and droughts 2 straight years in 2001 and 2002) but more of them made it through than not. Are they as healthy as they were pre-ice storm? No, but they are still tappable.

Thankfully the ice seemed to stop about 15 miles north of Highway 401 and we were spared. We did pick up another 8"+ of snow - which we did not need but I'll take it over an inch of ice. My thoughts are with those in the Kingston area who were hit with this ice storm and also suffered through the '98 storm.

[Bruce L]

Mild enough here today that the ice we received is slowly disappearing ,glad to see it go in case anything gets added to it.

[ennismaple]

Glad to hear you faired OK Bruce. Did you have much damage?

[Randy Brutkoski]

I was installing saddles this afternoon and I almost needed to wear a hard hat with all of the ice falling from the trees today. I also was shooting at tree rats up in the trees and they had to do everything they could not to fall off a branch because of the ice still being on the trees. chaulked up 1. I am going to set up in my sniper position tomorrow morning with my 17 HMR.

[spud]

I was installing saddles this afternoon and I almost needed to wear a hard hat with all of the ice falling from the trees today. I also was shooting at tree rats up in the trees and they had to do everything they could not to fall off a branch because of the ice still being on the trees. chaulked up 1. I am going to set up in my sniper position tomorrow morning with my 17 HMR.

Your a sick sick man Randy but I like it. When you start dressing yourself in white camo and a Rambo knife then your family needs to be concerned. :)

Spud

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Your a sick sick man Randy but I like it. When you start dressing yourself in white camo and a Rambo knife then your family needs to be concerned. :)

Spud
uhhh I really shouldn't say anything:)

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Well, to keep with the theme - we dodged a bullet with this one. Five of us spend all day in the woods Saturday and the ice was starting to come off then, a lot also came off yesterday as well. We had a few big trees down on main lines but mostly 3" and smaller trees bent over or broke (hard on the soft maples) and a lot of broken limbs on the laterals. Seems to me we are at 10% or less crown damage but we were right at the threshold with many bent to the breaking point -- another few hours of freezing rain would have told a very different tale. One silver lining is that it's easy walking, nobody was breaking through that crust.

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

Just got this email, I was lucky to be above the ice damage, but this may help those who were affected.

Ben


December 31, 2013
5.10.13
USDA Farm Service Agency Program Available for Ice Storm Damage to Sugarbushes
Vermont maple producers who sustained damage from the recent ice storm are encouraged to contact their county USDA office to apply for cost share assistance through the Farm Service Agency’s Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) to help compensate them for losses.

USDA offers programs to help farmers, including maple producers, recover from damages caused by natural disasters. Maple producers should document their damage and take some photos if possible. It is mandatory that they contact their local FSA office and submit an application before they start work to remove debris or repair taps and tubing in order to be eligible for cost sharing through ECP.

The Vermont USDA service centers are:

Brattleboro: 254-9766 Newport: 334-6090 St. Johnsbury: 748-2641
Middlebury: 388-6748 Rutland: 775-8034 Williston: 288-8155
Morrisville: 888-4935 St. Albans: 527-1296 White River: 295-7942

Questions?
Please contact CED Lawrence Parker, County Executive Director, at (802) 288-8155, extension 102 or toll free in Vermont 1-800-910-2035, or by email at lawrence.parker@vt.usda.gov .

[spud]

I think this would be a big waste of time. You have to fill out paper work and take photos of your woods. You are not allowed to do any repairs or clean-up in your woods until an inspector comes out. Because you're dealing with the State you could be waiting a while. I have never seen a State worker move fast. I was also told they might not allow organic woods to tap this year. I doubt this will happen but I would rather not deal with the state at all.

Spud

[vtmapleman]

Four years ago when we have damage from the October snow storm - the process was very quick and simple. The state worker showed up within a couple of days. I took pictures as did the state worker. Yes, you do have to give some estimates on the number of hours you will have to work to clean it up, to include tractor hours, running of chain saws etc...Would expect that you already have a good idea of the effort to clean this mess up. Yes, I did have to wait a couple of months for the money but it did surely help to pay the bill. In the end it was worth it - just my opinion.