In the Deep Freeze: Connecticut Reflects on the Bone Chilling Ice Storm of 1973

If you think Connecticut's latest ice storm was brutal, it pales compared to CT's ice storm of 1973.  According to Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan, the Ice Storm of 1973, also known as 'Ice Storm Felix,' hit Connecticut hard. Hanrahan described the storm on his Connecticut Weather Archive:

The Ice Storm of 1973 still stands as the benchmark ice storm in Connecticut. The storm plunged most of the state into frigid darkness for days and many remember it well 50 years later. The storm began on the evening of December 16, 1973 and lasted into the morning of the 17th.

The aftermath was extraordinary. Trees across the state were weighed down with glistening ice, turning the landscape into a winter wonderland. 278,000 Northeast Utilities customers lost power, marking one of the most extensive outages in Connecticut's history, though it would be overshadowed by Hurricane Gloria a dozen years later.

According to Hearst CT Media, author Rick Moody, who grew up in Fairfield County, wrote a novel titled 'The Ice Storm' in 1994. Three years later, Academy-winning director Ang Lee transformed Moody's novel into a feature film with the same name.