Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Beautiful Hoar Frost...

Our mornings have been so beautiful with the hoar frost...
it doesn't happen very often as conditions have to be just right...
and its been a week of fog & frost...
it's been stunning!
Here are some photos from our back yard & street.....


back yard view - not much snow!

another pic of the yard

large ponderosa pine - needles covered!

one of the bird feeders

natural grasses covered

front yard

front/side yard



The Wiki definition...hoar frost 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. A related effect is flood frost which occurs when air cooled by ground-level radiation losses travels downhill to form pockets of very cold air in depressions, valleys, and hollows. Hoar frost can form in these areas even when the air temperature a few feet above ground is well above freezing. Nonetheless the frost itself will be at or below the freezing temperature of water.
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 of 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 name hoar comes from Old English and can be used as an adjective for showing signs of old age in reference to the frost which makes trees and bushes look like elderly white hair. It may also have association with hawthorn when covered in its characteristic white spring blossom.


6 comments:

Moments by Marla said...

Beautiful photos. I always love seeing the outdoors glisten with the fog and frost. In fact we saw some of it the other morning. I had never heard it given the name of hoar frost. Interesting!!

Stacy's Shabby Shoppe said...

Hey Sandy ~ I'm so glad you posted these gorgeous pictures! My Mom, my Aunt and my cousin have been going on about the hoar frost back home these past few days or so and now I can see it in your pictures! I've never seen it quite like that before...wow! Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing girl! (*_*) xo

bumblebee creations said...

wow! this is just gorgeous!! Never knew what this was called!! Thanks for sharing your awesome pics!

Theresa said...

How beautiful. Your photography is amazing.

Jennifer said...

These are fantastic! I love this kind of frost! Thanks for the great definitions!

THERESA said...

The pic's are super and being from SA, we never get to see this up close, nearest to it , is where i am sitting at the puter.....hehehehe
Done a post, catman and angel, go see and tell me what you think....:))
http://craftsfriendsangels.blogspot.com/2012/02/something-quirky.html
lotsa luv
ps: thanks , they were so much fun to play with!!


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