Groundhog Day ice storm knocks out power from Mexico to Canada

The cross-country Groundhog Day 2022 winter storm is finally over, but it left a lot of damage and power outages in its wake from Texas to Canada.

The cross-country Groundhog Day 2022 winter storm is finally over, but it left a lot of damage and power outages in its wake from Texas to Canada. For more information, see our Live Blog, Plains/Midwest Recap, Northecast Recap, and tornado story.

Here's a look at the stats. Significant icing occurred from Texas to Maine, with freezing rain reports that exceeded 3/4 of an inch, knocking down trees and powerlines and snarling travel from Texas to Maine.

The ice cut power for many, and frigid weather behind the front only added to this problem, letting the ice linger on trees for days.

Peak outages were around 380,000 customers, but four days later, on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, 150,000 were still without power -- in very cold temperatures. 50,000 also lost power in Canada.

Top freezing rain reports were as follows:

Oxly, MO: 1.10"
Lake Ariel, PA: 0.80"
Mason, TX: 0.75"
Saco, ME: 0.70"
Austerlitz, NY: 0.50"
Roxbury, NY: 0.50"
San Angelo, TX: 0.50"
Albany, TX: 0.50"
Haskell, TX: 0.50"
Throckmorton, TX: 0.50"
Maryneal, TX: 0.50"
Pine Bluff, AR: 0.50"
Mulberry, AR: 0.50"
Talahina, OK: 0.50"
Montgomery, NY: 0.45"
Princeton, KY: 0.38"

Where freezing rain wasn't coating the ground, Inches and inches of sleet fell. Reports were so high, they threatened some of the biggest in history (see my previous blogs "Incredible Sleet Stories Vol. 1" and "Incredible Sleet Stories Vol. 2").

Because of human error though, some sleet reports (not listed here) were literally unbelievable. Here's a Twitter thread explaining:

Top sleet reports over two inches were as follows (amount was not reported if it included snow):

• New Philadelphia, OH: 4.5"

• Meddybemps, ME: 4.5"

• Batesville, AR: 3.5" (Airport)

• Allendale Manor, AR: 3.5"

• Little Rock AFB, AR: 3.0"

• Jonesboro, ME: 3.0"

• Ashville, OH: 3.0" (incl. freezing rain)

• McRae, AR: 3.0"

• Witts Springs, AR: 3.0"

• Lamar, AR: 3.0"

• Zanesville, OH: 3.0"

• Colerain Township, OH: 3.0" (incl. freezing rain)

• Old Glory, TX: 2.8"

• Wilmington, OH: 2.6"

• Cape Elizabeth, ME: 2.5"

• Macon, AR: 2.5" (NWS)

• Caruthersville, MO: 2.5"

• Halfmoon, NY: 2.5"

• Butler, OH: 2.3"

• Aqueduct, NY: 2.2"

There was plenty of snow too, to the north. More than a foot of snow was reported in a dozen states. This was good news for snow lovers in Chicago, Indiana and New York state, who had missed out on a lot of snow so far this season.

Top snow reports by state:

Taos, NM: 37.0"
Fort Garland, CO: 28.1"
Webster, NY: 21.0"
Crossingville, PA: 19.0"
Willoughby, OH: 17.4"
Leiters Ford, IN: 17.0"
Warren, VT: 17.0"
Newry, ME: 16.0"
Tolono & Danville, IL: 15.0"
Mottville, MI: 14.1"
Madison, NH: 14.5"
New London, MO: 12.5"
Cave Springs, AR: 10.3"
Gruver, TX: 6.0"
Mooar, IA: 5.0"
Burlington, KY: 4.0"

To the south of the snow and ice, even the rain amounts were impressive.

In addition, two EF-2 tornadoes were confirmed in Alabama.

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