[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Yes, I do remember that storm. We were without power for about that long also. Bought a generator after that.

Ice is what we get so often here - not snow.

I can remember watching the night sky after an ice storm and seeing all the transformers blowing up - across the horizon - little flashes of light as one transformer after another “explodes”. Eerie and something I do NOT want to see again any time soon.

[AnAmericanMother]

We tend to get ice here as well, in fact we bought a generator before we bought a lawnmower . . . because we just thought that was what you did! My husband has ginned up a system where we tag out the main and then run the generator directly into both legs of the 220. If you're careful about not overloading the generator (and don't run things like toasters and ovens!) you can pretty much proceed as normal, except for that roar in the back yard!

Bad ice storm here in '73, a real heavy snowfall (not ice) in '82, and a genuine blizzard in '93. Some small ice storms in between, enough to break some branches and put the power out for a day or so, but nothing spectacular.

It seems like we have had more snow and less ice lately. I remember some very bad ice storms in the late 50s and early 60s, when I was a kid. And you're right, the transformers exploding look like fireworks on the horizon. Also, if you live in a pine grove, the breaking branches sound like heavy machine gun fire.