The dangers of freezing rain

Freezing rain is a common wintertime weather hazard. Even just a glaze of ice can make roads hazardous, which is what happened in northern Indiana on Feb. 5, 2025. Here's more on the dangers of ice.

Freezing rain occurs when there's a pocket of warmer air higher up in the atmosphere but freezing air near the surface. The rain drops become "supercooled" and freeze on contact with any surface, creating a layer of ice.

Freezing rain makes travel extremely damaging. Just a glaze of ice can lead to numerous accidents. Ice is also very hazardous to pedestrians and significantly increases your chances of slipping and falling. When freezing rain is in the forecast, travel is discouraged.

The more freezing rain accumulates, the more dangerous it becomes. Ice, in particular, can add a lot of weight to trees and powerlines. One-quarter of an inch of ice can add 500 pounds (225 kg) of weight; that's enough to bring trees and powerlines down and result in numerous power outages and damage to homes.

Weather & Radar is here to help. Freezing rain and ice show up as orange on the WeatherRadar. Our expert meteorologists are also here to give you all of the details when a dangerous ice storm is in the forecast.