08/01/2025
❄️ HOARFROST ❄️ ... and reflections on a cold December day.
A beautiful phenomenon with a funny name, hoar comes from Old English and means grayish white or gray-haired with age. This type of frost forms large white crystals on cold surfaces. It is easy to see how the feathery crystals can make things look hoary! These large crystals form when we have cold nights with no wind but still plenty of water v***r in the air. The v***r transitions directly from a gas to a solid in a process called deposition. The morning is the best time to look for evidence of this occurring throughout nature because the fragile crystals are melted quickly by the sun.
