Reported ice conditions for the eastern coast include the harbors and passages 

 between Eastport and Campobello Island. Ice in this area is made up of either 

 shore ice, floating ice chunks, or solid ice, and usually occurs in the 

 smaller bays and inlets. Of these three shore ice is the most frequent. 

 During high winds, shore ice tends to pile up on adjoining beaches. 



From 1959 to 1978, shore ice was observed an average of 11 days/season. 

 Approximately 1 year in 5 was colder than average, with over 20 days of 

 observed shore ice, whereas 2 years in 5 were mild, with 4 days or less of 

 observed shore ice. Of the mild years, half had no significant amounts of 

 shore ice. 



Freezing of harbors and small inlets is less frequent than the formation of 

 shore ice. More than half of the seasons show no ice cover, while roughly two 

 seasons in five record freeze periods in excess of 7 days. Half of these 

 have freeze periods lasting 2 to 3 weeks. The thickness of solid ice 

 generally remains less than 12 inches (30 cm), with isolated areas reaching up 

 to 24 inches (61 cm). 



Little ice formation has been observed along the eastern coast in either 

 December or March. Ice formation begins in early January and may continue 

 through mid-February. This is in contrast to rivers and bays farther inland, 

 such as those along the Penobscot River, where significant ice formation 

 begins in early December and continues through early to mid-March. 



Storm occurrences . Heavy ice storms ("glaze" or freezing rain) affect 

 people most directly through power losses (due to icing of power lines) or 

 dangerous driving conditions. They also may topple trees and thereby damage 

 buildings. Broken trees and shrubs in the wake of severe storms are the most 

 visible evidence of the impact of ice storms on the natural environment. The 

 institutions that have been most interested in collecting and analyzing ice 

 storm data are the transportation, power, and communications industries. The 

 most common measure of icing is the thickness of ice on power lines. 



According to Bennett (1959) the thickness of ice deposits can vary 

 considerably over a small region, because of the inherent nature of the storms 

 as well as local meteorological conditions. The heaviest deposits occur in 

 areas having low temperatures and strong winds. Although concurrent wind data 

 are scarce, Bennett points out that moderate velocities (around 10 to 20 mph; 

 16 to 32 km/hr) are most common during ice storms. The Edison Electric 

 Institute (Bennett 1959) recorded data on ice storms across the nation from 

 1926 to 1927 and from 1936 to 1937 that show the thickness of ice deposits is 

 associated with high wind speeds. According to Edison Electric data from 

 Massachusetts, glaze on utility wires has a maximum duration of 55 hours, a 

 minimum duration of 3 hours, and an average duration of 20 hours. Similar 

 durations may be expected at the interior boundary of the Maine coastal zone, 

 with somewhat shorter durations on the immediate coast. 



Bennett (1959) quotes two additional studies of ice storms: one by the 

 Association of American Railroads (1928 to 1937) and another by the American 

 Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T; 1917 to 1925). The first records a 

 total of approximately 22 storms in the southern third of the Maine coast, 13 

 in the central third, and 7 in the northern third over the 9-year observation 

 period. Approximately half of these storms deposited an ice layer -0.25 



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