How Much Snow 2014? Winter Storm Nika Snow And Ice Totals; 750,000 Pennsylvanians Without Power

Ice from Winter Storm Nika covers a tree in Central Park. Reuters

Update, 9:55: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett issued a state of emergency after winter storm knocks out power for thousands.

Original Story:

Ice, ice, baby: The snow totals of Winter Storm Nika aren’t what ended up causing problems in the Northeast. It was the heavy amounts of ice that left more than 750,000 customers without power in eastern and central Pennsylvania Wednesday morning, according to The Weather Channel.

Early reports said the Philadelphia area could be hit with up to a quarter inch of freezing rain, but TWC reported that up to one-third of an inch of ice accumulated in some areas of Philadelphia and Trenton, N.J. Driving conditions were made horrid and ice weighed down power lines and caused branches to break.

"Remember, respect the snow, fear the ice,” said Gary Szatkowski, of the National Weather Service’s Philadelphia/Mt. Holly office told Philadelphia's NBC 10.

The news site added that on some power lines, the was a reported half of an inch of ice, which is some cases can add 500 pounds of weight to them. Pressure was also put on branches by the ice storm, making them 30 times heavier and exponentially increasing their chances of falling.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has yet to call a state of emergency. During a press conference, he said out-of-state utility vehicles would be called to help with the outages.

"We're going to continue to monitor the situation," Corbett said. "Our major concern is that it is supposed to go below freezing tonight. It's going to refreeze tonight and we want everyone to be careful on the roads."

The snow and ice totals of Winter Storm Nika are listed below, courtesy of TWC:

Connecticut

11" snow in Weatogue
10" snow in Storrs and New Milford
8" snow in Hartford
7.5" snow in Bridgeport followed by freezing rain

Maine

5" snow in Gray
4.5" snow in Yarmouth

Maryland

0.50" ice near Manchester
Up to 0.40" ice near Frederick, Cavetown, Cumberland
0.20" ice in Baltimore
2.5" snow in Finzel

Massachusetts

12" snow in Warren
11.5" snow in Ludlow
10.7" snow in Worcester
9.7" snow in Boston
9.5" snow in West Springfield

New Hampshire

7.6" snow in South Hudson
7" snow in Nashua
6" snow in Londonderry

New Jersey

11.4" snow in Montague
11" snow in Wantage
4.1" snow in Newark
0.50" ice in Metuchen
0.40" ice in Rockaway
0.33" ice in Trenton

New York

13.8" snow in Owego
12.5" snow in Newburgh
12" snow in Johnson City and Chemung
8.3" snow in Binghamton
7.5" snow in Poughkeepsie
4" snow in New York City followed by near 0.25" ice
3" snow in Buffalo

Pennsylvania

0.25" to 0.50" of ice reported in southeast Pennsylvania.
Significant icing also reported in south-central and western Pennsylvania.
More than 760,000 customers lost power statewide
12" snow in Sayre, Troy, Reynoldsville
9" snow in Punxsutawney
3.5" snow in State College

Rhode Island

9" snow in Burrillville
7" snow in Pawtucket
4.3" snow in Providence

Vermont

6" snow in South Newfane
4" snow in Rockingham, Woodford, Randolph
3.5" snow in Stamford

Virginia

0.25" ice in Sterling, Purcellville, Bergton
0.20" ice at Dulles Aiport

West Virginia

0.70" ice near Romney
0.50" ice near Keyser
6.5" snow in Stratton
2" snow in Wheeling

Nika Central Snow, Ice Reports:

Arkansas

0.5" ice in 4 hours at Wilson in northeast Ark.; power out
0.4" ice in Formosa; "a lot of tree damage"
0.3" ice in Steprock
At least 0.25" ice at Petit Jean Mountain; "dogwoods breaking at the top and splitting ... popping and breaking trees sound like gunfire"
Many reports of icing in the Little Rock area incl. 0.2" in North Little Rock
I-55 "nearly impassable" near Jericho and Marion in northeast Arkansas due to ice
2" snow in Eureka Springs, Oak Grove

Kansas

13.2" snow in Topeka (12.9" fell on Feb. 4, making it the third snowiest day dating back to 1887)
13" snow in Enterprise
11.9" snow in Overland Park
8.7" snow in Wichita (NWS office at Mid-Continent Airport)
Up to 6.5" snow near Dodge City

Kentucky

0.75" ice in Marion
0.50" ice in Murray, Wickliffe (power outages reported), Mortons Gap
0.35" ice in Vanceburg with trees reported down
3" snow/sleet in Latonia Lakes

Illinois

10" snow in Quincy
9.6" snow in Pana
5" snow in Peoria
5" snow at Chicago O'Hare
0.24" ice in Harrisburg

Indiana

12" snow in Warsaw
up to 8.5" snow in Indianapolis (7.4" at Indianapolis International Airport)
6.5" snow in Kokomo
up to 0.30" ice in Tennyson
0.25" ice in Evansville with power outages reported

Iowa

8" snow in Lamoni
6.5" snow near Ottumwa
6" snow in Corydon and Red Oak
5" snow in Burlington
4.7" snow in Des Moines

Michigan

7.5" snow in Temperance
5.5" snow in Hastings and Benton Harbor
5.2" snow in Lansing
3.3" snow in Grand Rapids

Missouri

13" snow in Hannibal
12" snow in Weston
9.2" snow in Kansas City
6.5" snow in Columbia
0.25" of ice in Cape Girardeau and Dudley

Nebraska

6" snow in Fairbury, Hebron
Up to 4.2" snow in Omaha
4" snow in Scottsbluff

Ohio

10.7" snow in Columbus
10" snow in Greenville
9" snow near Coldwater
3.4" snow and sleet in Cincinnati
0.40" ice in higher elevations of Brush Creek State Park
0.25" ice in Waverly with trees down

Oklahoma

8" snow in Woodward and up to 8" in Gage
7" snow in Laverne and Cherokee (northwest Okla.) and east of Checotah (east-central Okla.)
5" snow in Muskogee and Bryans Corner
4" snow in Shawnee and Ada
2.5" snow in Bartlesville
0.10" ice in McAlester, Checotah, Valliant, Battiest, Spiro, Talihina, Poteau and Panama

Wisconsin

7" snow near Kenosha
5.7" snow near Racine

Nika West Snow Reports:

California

4.3" snow in Tahoma
4" snow at Homewood Ski Area
2" snow at Northstar Ski Resort

Colorado

15" snow at Coal Bank Pass
12" snow at Wolf Creek Pass
7" snow at McClure Pass
6" snow in Palisade
Generally 0.5" to 1.5" ice in the Denver metro area

Idaho

11.7" of snow about 16 miles northeast of Island Park (Black Bear SNOTEL, elevation 8150 feet)
8" snow in Grangeville
6" snow in Ashton
0.4" snow in Boise

Montana

11.6" snow south of West Yellowstone (Madison Plateau SNOTEL, elevation 7750 feet)
4.1" snow in Montana City
3.6" snow in Great Falls
2.0" snow in Helena
1.8" snow in Billings

New Mexico

9" snow in Cloudcroft
3" to 4" snow around Santa Fe
2" to 3" snow in parts of the Albuquerque metro area
2" snow in Ruidoso

Utah

7.4" snow about 17 miles southeast of Almo (George Creek SNOTEL, elevation 8994 feet)
7" snow at Snowbasin Mid Bowl (elevation 7402 feet)
6" snow at Powder Mountain
2.3" snow in Salt Lake City
2" snow in Logan
1.7" at Salt Lake City International Airport

Wyoming

13.1" of snow about 32 miles north-northeast of Driggs (Grassy Lake SNOTEL, elevation 7265 feet)
0.5" snow in Torrington

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