Sunday 5 February 2017

Rime ice on The Calf - which way the wind blows...

I've posted about rime ice before but found this wonderful example on The Calf in the Howgills. It occurs when the wind is blowing supercooled water vapour. This is when the water vapour has made it below the freezing temperature but has been unable to turn solid for lack of a nucleus on which crystals form. The water vapour freezes solid onto the first surface it hits, so the rime ice grows into the wind. I stood with my back to the wind to take the photograph. This is HARD RIME. My job now is to find soft rime.