ice storm

American

noun

a storm of freezing rain and widespread glaze formation.

ice storm British

noun

a storm of freezing rain that deposits a glaze of ice on the ground

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of ice storm

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Winter Storm Fern, the massive snow and ice storm that marked the start of the cold spell on Jan. 22, caused power outages for more than one million households.

From Barron's

A huge snow and ice storm blanketed the country late in January.

From MarketWatch

Born in 1917, he spent his toddler years in Portland, Ore., until ice storms inspired his father to pile the family into a Model T and drive south.

From Los Angeles Times

Forecasters told people to continue to expect similar subzero conditions Monday, with nearly 200 million Americans under official warnings from the National Weather Service, covering ice storms, extreme temperatures and cold weather advisories.

From The Wall Street Journal

Experts say adding transmission lines in corridors that currently lack them would also enable utilities to keep power flowing when ice storms or wildfires threaten other parts of the grid.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023