Ice Storm, Tacoma Area
- When
- December 26, 7:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Tacoma Area forecast zone
Ice Storm in Washington, December 26, 1996
An ice storm hit most of southern Puget Sound, knocking out power to 269,000 people. It closed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, most of the transit was halted due to street closures.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.
An ice storm hit most of southern Puget Sound, knocking out power to 269,000 people. It closed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, most of the transit was halted due to street closures. In Federal Way only 4 of 46 traffic lights were working. Up to 50 streets in the Tacoma area were closed. It was considered the worst ice storm since 1928 and did more damage than any previous windstorm. Some of the freezing rain was mixed with up to 3 inches of snow.
Event by event
2 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Ice Storm, Southwest Interior
- When
- December 26, 7:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Southwest Interior forecast zone
What these are
- Ice Storm
- Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Washington, December 26, 1996
- Flooding in Oregon, December 26 to 31, 1996
- Heavy Rain in Nevada, December 26 to 27, 1996
- Winter Weather in New York, December 26 to 27, 1996
- Flooding in Washington, December 26 to 31, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Washington, December 26 to 29, 1996
- High Wind in Colorado, December 26 to 27, 1996
- Ice Storm in Oregon, December 26 to 27, 1996
- Ice Storm in Washington, December 26 to 27, 1996
- Winter Storm in California, December 26 to 27, 1996
- High Wind in Wyoming, December 26, 1996
- Winter Weather in Vermont, December 26 to 27, 1996
More
Every storm in Washington in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5577215, 5577216.