Basketball-sized chunks of melting ice fall from the 1,200-foot WCHS television tower near St. Albans, West Virginia after a heavy ice storm on February 20, 2003. The same icing event caused the nearby 1,500-foot WVAH television tower to collapse. Ice storms are caused by freezing rain, a phenomenon caused when warm air is situated above a thin layer of below-freezing air at ground level. Raindrops from the warm layer above fall through the cold layer below and freeze on contact when they strike objects on the ground. Image is from video.
[ View more photos and a detailed summary from this chase ]
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