January 29, 2026
A picture from Monday of this week, January 26th. First thing that morning, I looked out hoping to find trees coated with beautiful ice. Instead I saw something just as lovely but more subtle, hoarfrost.
Hoarfrost happens when surfaces, such as these Pitch Pine needles (Pinus rigida), become colder than 32°, the freezing temperature. Water vapor then hits the very cold surfaces and the water in the air immediately becomes ice crystals, skipping the liquid phase. The ice crystals create a unique appearance, forming structures that are needle or feather like.
If you would like to read more, or see more of my photos of gorgeous hoarfrost, check out: brendaclem.com/hoarfrost/ which I put together a few years ago.
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4 responses to “Hoarfrost And Pitch Pine”
Beautiful picture, Brenda! And I never knew that about hoarfrost—always thought it was just an arcane word for frost.
Hi Grace, hoping you are safe, warm, and able to get out. Although we usually dig ourselves out of our 1/10 mile lane, this storm has been daunting with its “snowcrete” and resorted to ask a neighbor to bring up his heavy duty Bobcat Skid Steer which made those HUGE chunks look so very easy to move! Isn’t the hoarfrost amazingly beautiful?!! I hope you had time to pull up: brendaclem.com/hoarfrost/
So very glad that you read my posts!
Bren
wonderful observations, as always; insightful, nuanced and poetic
Hi Ken, super to hear from you. I hope you are doing well, all dug out and staying warm. I can’t believe how COLD it is staying!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I thoroughly enjoy doing a blog post each evening, and when I find something that is really interesting to me — I really get going! But I try very hard to keep things short!
So very glad you read my posts!
Bren