There [is/are/was/were]   [ Noun ]   [ Phrase of location ].....

You cannot substitute it for there in any of the following examples.

There is [ ice ] [ on the road ] today.

There was [ snow ] [ on the roof ] yesterday afternoon.

There is [ something wrong ]  [ with my car ].

There is [ a strange sound ] [ in the engine ].

There were  [ hundreds of people ]  [ at the meeting ].

The linking verb can be expanded with modals, adverbs, and other idiomatic expressions without changing the basic idea of the pattern:

There should be [ some paper ] [ in that drawer ].

There is to be [ a concert ] [ in the park ] next Tuesday.

There is sure to be [ a concert ] [ in the park ] next Tuesday.

There could have been [ some money ] [ in that drawer ].

There certainly has been [ some bad weather ] [ in that regiion ] lately.

There really ought to have been [ more sugar ] [ in those containers ].

________________

If there is no way to construe the sentence as establishing the existence of something or its existence in a place, there should not be used.

It is rather hot today.

It was good to see you.

It has been a pleasure to meet you.

It is impossible to understand why he did that.

It was a dark-haired man who asked us those questions.

CJ