Hi Sarah,
Yes, ice storms can be freaky yet beautiful, as long as you don't have to get out in them. We have them irregularly here in Kentucky, usually every 5 to 7 years or so. But the freakiest one I ever saw was in North Florida about 25-26 years ago, around 1983.
It was on a Saturday in mid-October, forecast was for sunny and a balmy 75 degrees. At 11:00AM it was 65 and sunny. By 12:00 it had dropped back to 40 and continuing to drop. An arctic cold front unexpectedly had made it's way across the mid-west and down into the South. By 5:00PM it was under 21 degrees, and that night it dropped down to 9-below zero, plus a wind-chill. The highest it got until Tuesday was 5 degrees above zero.
People were told NOT to run water, but they did anyway, and there were thousands of flowering lawns with 2 to 3 feet of ice on them with roses, mums, and you name it all under ice. You could drive around the neighbourhoods for hours and not get tired of looking at all of the un-natural beauty that had sprung up over just two days.
Sorry, no pics! That was many moons ago.
Our family had a 2-1/2 acre Nursery and we lost over 80% of our stock, mostly Azaleas, Spireas, and light flowering "Florida-Style" shrubbery. Sadly, I carried dead plants out to the back fence for over two weeks.
So, the next time you enjoy an ice storm, just hope you don't have to do the cleanup afterwards,, ok?!
Later,, Ya'll...........................!
Your Friend Always,
The Benster!