Modeling of icing events based on passive ice meter observations in Quebec

The objective of this study is to estimate an event-based model for the distribution of glaze ice and of the associated wind speed in different regions of Quebec. The available meteorological data covers periods of observations up to 21 yr at 180 stations deployed throughout the province. Four statistical distributions for ice thickness (extreme type I, extreme type II, 3-p lognormal, and log Pearson type III) are investigated. The log Pearson distribution is found to provide the best fit for the majority of the stations. Statistical analyses are also performed on the associated wind speed, the recurrence rate of icing events, and the residency period of ice. For the associated wind, 5 statistical distributions were investigated (extreme type I, extreme type II, Rayleigh, 3-p lognormal, and log Pearson type III). All 5 distributions were found to provide a good fit for the data.