What Causes Hoarfrost?
As I mentioned in my post, "When the fog freezes in the trees," we had hoarfrost early yesterday morning. So I dashed out of the house to try to capture it in pictures before it melted, as the day was expected to warm up. I only posted a few pictures initially, as I wanted to take the time to zoom in a bit on some of them to show the frost formation.
I love hoarfrost. It is one of nature's amazing miracles. And I always try to get pictures of it, with somewhat limited success. So I'm going to add some additional photos to this post from Pixabay, such as the following.
Source: Pixabay
The most remarkable thing about hoarfrost is how it coats every little twig and branch. The result is a soft, fuzzy look.
Source: Pixabay
How Does Hoarfrost Form?
I checked a few different explanations, and found this one from dictionary.com to be fairly straight and to the point:
[Hoarfrost is] a deposit of needle-like ice crystals formed on the ground by direct condensation at temperatures below freezing point.
[Hoarfrost ice crystals] form on cold, clear nights when conditions are such that heat radiates out to the open air faster than it can be replaced from nearby sources, such as wind or warm objects.
But I'm not sure it describes how these ice crystals differ from regular ice. Here's one more source, weather.com:
First, to produce any frost, you need water vapor (gaseous form of water) in the air over cold ground with a surface dew point at least as cold as 32 degrees.
When these water vapor molecules contact a subfreezing surface, such as a blade of grass, they jump directly from the gas state to solid state, a process known as "deposition", leading to a coating of tiny ice crystals.
Makes you wonder if you can watch it happen, doesn't it? It turns out you can! Here's a really cool Youtube video:
My Hoarfrost Photos
The rest of these are mine, taken yesterday at the park where I walk my dog, as well as in some neighborhoods. They are not as dramatic as those I shared at the beginning of the post, as it was just a very light frost. With some of the pictures I have zoomed in to get a better look at the crystals.
A little closer:
And one more - my joyful dog, Zoey, romping through the snow.
Thank you very much for visiting my blog! This is my post for #sublimesunday and #beautifulsunday. Thank you to @ace108 for hosting the beautiful Sunday tag, and to @c0ff33a for the sublime Sunday tag.
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We had some of this happen recently in Oklahoma after a foggy night. They do look like little crystal formations!
I wonder if it is more prevalent in some places, or if it is a special phenomenon that can occur in any cold climate when the conditions are just right.
Feels too cold just looking at this. Glad it is going to warm up a bit for you.
Thank you, @ace108. It has warmed up and our snow is melting, which is a bit concerning, actually! We are used to the cold here, and love our snow and winter conditions. People skate on the lakes and go snowmobiling, and set up ice houses on the lakes to go ice fishing. You get used to the cold if you live here! :-)
You're welcome. I don't think I'll get use to the cold.
I lived in Kansas City for 2 over years. Never got use to that.
I should I tried ice skating then but only did a few months ago.
Living in a warm region I have not seen this happen, what a wonderful natural spectacle to witness.
Thanks for additional information as to how this event takes place @jayna
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Thanks, @joanstewart! And thank you for the lovely tip! Yes, it's amazing. I believe we will see more of it with global warming. It tends to be quite cold here in the winter - well below freezing. Hoarfrost occurs at warmer temperatures, around freezing, when there is moisture in the air.
Always a dazzling thought that each crystal has it's own unique shape!
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I like your photos of frosted branches and needles :-)
Thank you, @bucipuci!
You're welcome :-)
Amazing and beautiful!
Thank you, @squirrelbait!
I would have loved to walk that walk with you
Anytime, @brittandjosie. Come on by. We go to that park about once a week in any weather!