In Northern Michigan, an historic ice storm closed the Mackinac Bridge, as massive ice build up fell from towers, above, and exploded like bombs on the roadway below.
I’ve seen a lot of ice storms but nothing ever like this. Michigan has mostly escaped the worst of the worst impacts so far, but events like this are reminders that no place is completely safe from climate extremes.
The ice build up on branches and structures is more extreme than I can ever remember seeing.
Amateur YouTuber below has some eye-opening footage.
Below, Dr. Jeff Masters on “climate havens”.
The trends here have not gone unnoticed by electric utilities, as damages from all kinds of extreme storms have risen sharply in recent years.
“Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen an increase in both the frequency of storms and higher wind speeds, some of the most extreme winds within the last four years,” Garrick Rochow, president and CEO of Consumers Energy, said on the call. “We’re clearly seeing the effects of climate change.”
For example, he said the design standard for its system was to withstand 40 mph winds. Now, that’s been changed to 80 mph.
UPDATE: This is wild.
Well, it’s not just wildfires that are a good reason to bury power lines, but ice storms.
(My treeful neighborhood here in Austin was without power for over six days after a short but severe ice storm. That beat the recent record of just over four days without power during the deep freeze of Feb 2021.)