Silver Frost Beauty with the Cold -- Dec 2011 & Jan 2013


PLEASE SET YOUR MARGINS TO VIEW THE ROWS BELOW WITH 3 PHOTOS

Below are photos of what we in the Pacific NW call Silver Frost.  To get it the air has to be very calm, have water vapor, and temperature below freezing.  Little crystals grow on everything, and they grow, and they grow, and grow.  Touch anything and the ice falls to the ground in a small pile.  A little wind will shake a lot loose, but we haven't had any wind.  This phenomena has been around for almost a week.


This page has content that goes back to 2011 some of you saw last year, and added to the top are pictures from mid-January this year.  Everything is covered in ice crystals of frozen fog, technically recognized as hoar frost.  The two satellite images below set the stage for what's to follow: 

WA Satellite Jan 21 -13 Seattle - EBRG - Mt. Rainier GOES Satellite
Image is from the GOES satellite showing fog in the valleys of WA, OR, & ID   -- John zoomed  & identified Seattle, Ellensburg; Mt Rainier is the orange dot.
 Tall Cattail Ice Crystals on Chainlink Gate barbed wire, blue twine, horse hair crystals
   Cattail by road                             Chainlink front gate to pasture                  Fence barbed wire with blue twine at top, and crystals formed on horse hair below  

From Underside Spruce spruce underside crystals SeaHorse Crystal Spruce
            White spruce tree at end of driveway                                          Full of ice crystal formations                                             This one looks like a seahorse.

Spruce Before Shaking
This is the spruce tree before shaking, Jan 21.  For a video of the ice crystals removal, check below:

Below is a link to John "shaking" the tree, with a stick.

http://youtu.be/0eLPh6pUEUs

The reason for our deciding to go out and shake the crystals off was because of a link John found to a description of the "Whisper of the Stars" now happening in Siberia, when temperatures reach minus 50 degrees.  If you are in such low temperatures, go outside and look at the stars; as you breathe the outgoing vapor instantly converts to ice crystals and "tinkles" to the ground with a melodic sound.  We were attempting to replicate the sound.

Sue on Fence in front of Pine Larch (Tamarack) and Ponderosa Pine Sue on Post, pine behind
Sue on fence; pine behind                             Tamaracks (Larch) and Ponderosa Pine                         Sue on fencepost, pine behind

 several Ponderosa pines Single Ponderoa pine Large Ponderosa pine Next door
More Ponderosa pines visible from our backyard.  The large one on the right, framed by our Nanking Cherry trees on the patio is next door.

Ponderosas Snow Blue Sky Tree full birds waiting for seeds Larch no snow
Earlier photo of the pines in the two pix on left above (here with snow & blue sky).   Songbirds waiting for seed (see below).  Larch trees no snow.

Jan 24 13 trees out back Heat Pump hay mow   Look two rows up to see contrast with a few days ago.  Our heat pump designs of ice crystals; snow on top.  Cats' house & Hay mow with snow sliding.

The next set of photos take us back to the front yard beside the driveway across from cherry trees and working with some Ponderosa pines. 

Below is a link to John's "shaking" a Ponderosa pine, with vocal announcement from our oldest Brittany, Shay: 

http://youtu.be/pqzcSYCSUh4

Below is a link to John drawing lines in the ice crystals beneath a Ponderosa pine:

http://youtu.be/UJt0D34O2w8

Lines in the Ice Crystals - not snow under trees
Photo of the lines in the sand (oops) ice crystals


Walking on up the driveway gets us to more views near the road.  

Cattails at our road kkk
Cattails across from entrance to driveway, near our paper box, Naneum Rd is at the top of each photo.   .


blue twine ice crystals Cover - Guy wire end of our driveway Fence post close to road, Basalt rock
  Crystals on blue baler twine fence  - Guy wire cover with crystals and on weeds below - Fence post with barbed wire, "Moose" basalt rock

Frosty my horse Frost on Hay Bales in New Bldg Dead Horse Tree Bar 14
  Frosty, named by the white edges on his coat; hay on his head - Frost on hay in pole bldg - Nancy's artistic photo-interpretation: dead horse tree

Raspberries Mt Ash limbs Snow On Nanking Cherry Nanking Cherry tree crystals
                       Red Raspberry bushes                         Mountain Ash tree without berries        Nanking Cherry trees/snow   Ice-frosted Nanking Cherry

zoom out of blue twine on fence  for color, Big Sue on Fence Post  zoom into first photo blue twine frost  CrystalsLinedUpFallenFromGate
Added Sue for color between the photos of crystals on fence/twine; a zoom of one on left.  A stack of ice crystals knocked on concrete from gate.

Wild turkey atop bird feeder Colorful Turkey 6' up Turkey on Garbage Can feeder in Front
We had 5 wild turkeys arrive a few weeks ago and they have been coming regularly to the backyard and front yard song bird feeders.

Turkeys First View Out Front Meghan & 4 turkeys looking at turkeys from guest bedroom window Rascal's View Front Feeder
Left our first view of turkeys mid Dec.  Meghan watching them from backyard on the hill by our creek.  Turkeys at front bird feeder.  Rascal's view.

Jan 23-13 turkeys roosting trees behind house Turkeys Inside Front Yard Birdseed
Morning view of turkeys roosting behind our house  -  photo of two inside front fenced yard eating bird seeds

quail pair
Lovely pair of Valley Quail on black sunflower seeds

quail with seed Birds in Bushes covered with Silver Frost Male Quail 1-29-13
Female Valley Quail with seed in beak             Songbirds in bushes covered with silver frost                 Male Valley Quail

House Finch song birds on patio near Nanking cherry trees several in cherry tree black capped chickadee
House finches and black-capped chickadees are most prevalent.  Of course there are quail, but also, the less-liked Stellar jays.

  A video of many of the song birds in the Nanking Cherry trees -- at one time I counted around 50, but not in the following video:

http://youtu.be/UMz-p8gHV_I



2011  Photos of Similar Phenomena 2011

Mt Ash 2011 silver frost DEAD P pine branch in Silver frost
         Mountain Ash Berries                                                       Enhanced dead branch, Ponderosa Pine

lodge pole pine cone P Pine Cone
Lodgepole pine cones, 5 fit into a cup                                          Ponderosa pine cone, larger, only 1 in a cup

larches to right from pasture
Pine, Tamaracks (Larch), more pines and continuing below up the driveway

trees along drive pretty tree  
Continuation of photo from above right, cherry trees behind pines and spruce trees;   close-up pretty tree crystals and sky.

  six horses
All 6 of our horses:  Cheyenne, Jazz, Ebony, Myst, Frosty, and Breeze

woody in hay shed
Our Woody, spayed female feral cat in hay mow, silver frost on hay and around back on trees
   
All photographs were taken by John or Nancy Hultquist;
comments to John and Nancy Hultquist, nancyh@ellensburg.com