Why Only One Home Along Lake Ontario is Covered in Ice
A home on Lake Ontario is nice during the summer but can turn into an ice house during the winter, especially if there's no protection from the wrath of Mother Nature.
Part of a home on the lake in West Webster, New York was coated in ice from the wind-whipped waves off Lake Ontario. The house is the only one along the shoreline affected because it's the only one with no protection. Every other property has rocks in front to stop the waves from crashing against the barrier, sending spray into homes and freezing almost immediately in single-digit windchills.
Ice Melt
The ice didn't last long with temperatures warming up a few days later. "There, likely, will be no damage based on my documentation of this kind of phenomena over the last few years," said John Kucko who shared a drone video of the ice house, which you can watch above, along with a picture,
Ice House History
Houses encased in ice are not uncommon in New York. Remember the ice house 5 years ago or the ice storms of the century in Watertown and Rochester?
5 years ago in West Webster, New York a home along Lake Ontario became an ice house. A destructive wind storm caused so much damage that the house had to be torn down in 2021 to make room for a new cottage.
Ice Ice Baby
It wasn't just homes. Everything along the shores of Lake Ontario was coated in thick layers of ice that year. Zack Parker captured a few pictures of the devastation.
Pulaski Ice House
3 years ago a summer cottage at Romona Beach in Pulaski, New York was covered in 4 feet of ice. Maureen Morgan Whelan owns the home that has been in her family for more than 8 decades and said the high water levels are so bad that something needs to be done. "50 years of living there nothing like this ever happened."
Back to Normal
The Whelan family members and friends spent a weekend in early March back in 2019 chipping ice off the Summer home to minimize the damage.
Lake Erie Ice House Row
Two years ago Hoover Beach along Lake Erie in Hamburg, New York had a row of ice houses. About ten days later the ice melted away and damage was minimal for most according to the homeowners' photographer John Kucko spoke with.
Buffalo Ice Car
When winds are high and temperatures are low, it's a good idea to avoid parking anywhere near any lake in New York. Just ask the guy who found his car covered in ice 6 years ago. I think he may have needed something a little more than a scrapper to clean that off.
Ice Storm of Century in Rochester
31 years ago on March 1, Rochester woke up to the 'Ice Storm of the Century' that caused $375 million in damage. Three-quarters of million people lost power for a week, and 12 counties were declared natural disaster areas.
Thousands of utility and tree removal trucks from all over the eastern U.S. traveled to Rochester in 1991 to help with cleanup efforts that took several weeks.
1998 Ice Storm in Watertown
Watertown had its own 'Ice Storm of the Century' 21 years ago. Utility trucks and clean crews from as far south as the Carolinas, traveled to Upstate New York to help restore power and get the area back on its feet after the devastation in January 1998.