2014 Dinaric ice storm
The 2014 Dinaric ice storm, better known as the 2014 Slovenia ice storm or 2014 Croatia ice storm, was a severe ice storm that struck the Northwest Dinaric Alps between 31 January and 2 February 2014. The freezing rain led to glazing of a vast region with about of ice, locally above. It wrecked roofs, power lines an forests, causing power loss for hundreds of thousands. Initially, Cyclone Ilija was believed to be the cause. But later investigation showed S and SW geostrophic wind dominated at the time.
The population affected by electricity loss included about 250,000 people in Slovenia and about 14,000 households households in Gorski Kotar, or about 80% of its population. Without electricity, water supply pumps stopped working, leaving many without tap water until power could be restored with engine–generators.
This event provided the impetus for the development of a freezing rain prediction program by the ECMWF.
Slovenia
The worst affected area was Inner Carniola, especially around Postojna. By 3 February, 120,000 households were still waiting for electricity to be restored and 40% of schools remained closed. The Minister of Defence of Slovenia, Roman Jakič, relayed that an estimated 500 tonnes of steel, cables and electricity posts remained on the ground. More than 300 power lines were broken. Almost half of all Slovenia's forests were damaged in the storm, including 40% of Alpine forests destroyed.Gorski Kotar
In Gorski Kotar, power lines fell on the A6 motorway, causing closure of the route to Rijeka between Bosiljevo and Kikovica, and between Kikovica and Delnice in the direction of Zagreb. There, it took about 10 days to restore essential infrastructure to most of entire region, and within months electricity was back in almost all of its former range, but at a cost of about 84.4 million HRK to HEP, whose Elektroprimorje Rijeka branch was responsible for restoring electricity in most of the affected area. At the time it was the largest peacetime damage since the Secession from Yugoslavia, even without counting the forestry losses. Clearing blocked forestry roads and forest paths would take years, and thanks to the declining population some were never cleared.As a result of the sudden large volume of dead wood, the region's Picea abies forests were plagued with an Ips typographus epidemic that became severe in 2016 and lasted until 2018 in Gorski Kotar.