Ice Storm, Northern Worcester
- When
- January 9, 1:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northern Worcester forecast zone
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Coordinates
- 42.351, -71.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Ice Storm in Massachusetts, January 9, 1998
Spotty areas of freezing rain fell in parts of northern Worcester County and extreme northwest Middlesex County. In a few places.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $20,000
- 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 BOX wrote it up.
Spotty areas of freezing rain fell in parts of northern Worcester County and extreme northwest Middlesex County. In a few places. there was severe icing. The icing was confined to specific elevations. A state of emergency was declared in the town of Paxton, where ice accretion brought down many tree limbs and wires causing road closures and power outages. Similar problems were reported in Leicester, Ashby, and Westminster. Power outages affected several hundred customers. There were scattered areas of icing in other towns, but no damage was reported.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Ice Storm, Western Middlesex
- When
- January 9, 1:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Middlesex forecast zone
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Coordinates
- 42.486, -71.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Tornado in West Virginia, January 9, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Ohio, January 9, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, January 9, 1998
- Flood in Pennsylvania, January 9 to 10, 1998
- Flood in Ohio, January 9 to 12, 1998
- Tornado in California, January 9, 1998
- Flood in New York, January 9 to 13, 1998
- Flood in New York, January 9 to 11, 1998
- Dense Fog in New York, January 9, 1998
- Winter Weather in California, January 9 to 10, 1998
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 9, 1998
- Cold in Nebraska, January 9, 1998
More
Every storm in Massachusetts in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, January 1998
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5635699, 5635700.