Mother nature slaps you in the cheeks with a surprise. We had a winter ice storm yesterday. In some parts, about half inch of freezing rain.
Now freezing rain is an interesting phenomenon, one I still can't quite fathom. Something like this, I guess: It rains. But the ground is still cold, so the water freezes on contact.
Voila, you have a sheet of ice (not snow) covering everything. The roads, sidewalks, branches, cables. Walking is impossible, and driving is darn close to that (they closed all the schools today). Trees snap from the added weight, and utility cables snap.
At least they look pretty, don't they?