Sunday, January 10, 2010

Hoar Frost / Winter Wonderland

This morning in west central Ohio - we woke up to a Winter Wonderland. A beautiful frost had formed on everything.


And I mean everything...I have a stucco home - frost crystals had formed on areas of the walls - particularily on the corners

Even the grass has ice crystals formed to one side






Per Wikipedia ---

"Radiation frost (also called hoar frost or hoarfrost) refers to the white ice crystals, loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects, that form on cold clear nights when heat losses into the open skies cause objects to become colder than the surrounding air.

Hoar frost may have different names depending on where it forms. For example, air hoar is a deposit of hoar frost on objects above the surface, such as tree branches, plant stems, wires; surface hoar is formed by fernlike ice crystals directly deposited on snow, ice or already frozen surfaces; crevasse hoar consists in crystals that form in glacial crevasses where water vapour can accumulate under calm weather conditions; depth hoar refers to cup shaped, faceted crystals formed within dry snow, beneath the surface."


The following pictures were taken in our City Park. The next few are of our swinging bridge over a creek.


The frost lasted longer than I expected this morning. Probably until about noon. It was a beautiful morning in a lovely Winter Wonderland.

2 comments:

  1. These photos are really lovely.

    And your series of monarch butterfly metamorphosis were splendid.

    Here's a nice website on monarch conservation, including plant lists for growing a butterfly-friendly garden, and information about monarch migration.

    http://www.monarchwatch.org/index.html

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  2. Ooo, I like picture number 5, it looks like a little snow bird sitting in the ? thistle fir? Well, whatever that "bush" "tree" is. Anybody like to look at ink blots and figure out what they are? ;-)

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