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HOAR FEATHERS

Dark Hollow Falls - Shenandoah National Park

 

The Old English dictionary (c. 1290) defines hoar frost as "expressing the resemblance of white feathers of frost to an old man's beard."

 

When water vapor molecules contact a subfreezing surface, they jump directly from the gas state to solid state, a process known as "deposition", leading to a coating of tiny ice crystals. With moisture in the air, the interlocking crystal patterns of frost become more intricate and much larger, building up to a greater depth on tree branches, signs, fences, anything.

 

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Uploaded on January 23, 2018
Taken on January 7, 2018