Offbeat News, Falling icicles kill six. (house, name, temperature, story)

[John1960]

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Six people have been killed in three days by icicles falling from buildings in a central Russian region, ITAR-TASS news agency reported Tuesday.

Plummeting chunks of ice is an annual hazard for pedestrians in Russia during the spring when the sun finally melts thick layers of ice and snow which build up on roofs over months of freezing temperatures and darkness.

Falling icicles kill six | Oddly Enough | Reuters

[happynoodleboycey]

I was skiing in France three weeks ago and there were some enormous icicles there (one must have been eight feet long hanging off the top of one chalet). We were joking around about not wanting to walk under them but there sure is a serious side too.

[Magnum Mike]

Back in December of 1990, we had snow and freezing here in Phoenix, yes you heard it right, in Phoenix. The freeze happened on a Saturday night, and Sunday morning I woke up hearing this crashing noise and I thought somebody was breaking into one of my windows. I grabbed my .357 magnum and started walking around and didn't see anything. I walked outside and I found pieces of ice that had partially melted when the sun rose about 45 degrees above the horizon, and the large ice chunks slid off the roof and landed on the concrete below. Luckily, nobody got hurt, other than maybe some ice chucks that got busted up!

[tlb71]

We have icicles hanging off our house several months a year and some of them get to be more than a foot long. We have a 2 story house with a crawl space, and there is no way I am dragging the ladder out this time of year, so we take turns throwing a basketball at them to knock them down.

[brokencrayola]

We had lots of snow and cold temp this winter. During some days the snow warms up on the metal roof and begins dripping and forming icicles that can get 2 or 3 feet long. I would hate the thought of something that gnarly high up on a building falling into someone head. Snow can be just as dangerous. My husband up his hard on the head and got a big knot this winter from snow falling off the roof. Enough snow falling off a roof can easily bury and/or kill someone.