Humidity. Not a word I’d associate with Calgary, a city where jumbo-sized bottles of hand and body lotion and humidifiers in every room of the house are not mere luxury items. The air is normally very dry here - Wikipedia claims that we have an average relative humidity of 55% in winter and 45% in summer. Once the cold, blistering winds and snow arrives, you begin to feel really parched. It makes you wish for a tropical vacation (okay, so EVERYTHING makes me wish for a tropical vacation…sigh).
Over the past few days, however, we’ve been completely immersed in a foggy gloom, and the humidity levels have risen dramatically. The temperature has been sitting below zero, however, so the water droplets from the low clouds have frozen and accumulated on the windward sides of trees, power lines, fences, etc. in a weather phenomenon called rime.
Rime is often confused with hoarfrost, but hoarfrost does not occur in foggy conditions. Hoarfrost is the freezing equivalent of dew. It occurs during times of high humidity, when the temperature of an exposed object becomes colder than the air surrounding it. The delicate flowery/feathery sheets of ice you sometimes see on windows are examples of hoarfrost.
Isn’t rime beautiful?
Is rime or hoarfrost a common cold weather occurrence where you live?
Related articles
- Fall Hoarfrost – A Lens Full of Crystals (gogreygirl.wordpress.com)
gardeninacity
/ November 2, 2012It is beautiful indeed, and that last picture is really stunning. Don’t think I’ve seen it in Chicago, though that could just be lack of observation.
Sheryl
/ November 3, 2012Thanks! It’s one of the perks of the cold! (We have to look on the bright side, I guess!).
Margie
/ November 2, 2012I hadn’t heard of rime frost, which I should have since I live near Calgary and am getting quite tired of these long days of fog and snow and ice. I’ll be sure to differentiate between rime and hoarfrost in the future (see link to my post above – Fall Hoarfrost – A Lens Full of Crystals.
Sheryl
/ November 3, 2012So happy that the weather finally turned around over the past couple of days! We definitely needed a break! Your blog is great – I was doing a little browsing around it this evening. Looking forward to checking out more of your posts!
Cathy
/ November 3, 2012Oh yes, it is beautiful. We often get some clear sunny days in winter where the frost glitters on the trees. We get both hoarfrost and rime, but the rime can get quite icy and cause problems with power lines or tree branches breaking. We also get freezing rain sometimes – the roads are then as smooth as ice rinks! Interesting post, as I hadn’t really thought about the difference between frost and rime before!
Sheryl
/ November 3, 2012I hear you about the freezing rain – it’s something we dread here, too. During the winter, we have such wild cycles of freezing and thawing, the roads and sidewalks are simply horrible to navigate sometimes!
Angie
/ November 3, 2012We’re very foggy here too, I’m heading out with my camera this morning. Just to the yard, mind you, but I should be able to get some nice pics.
Sheryl
/ November 3, 2012A Chinook finally blew in this afternoon, it was really lovely. Hope you got your photos!
Holleygarden
/ November 3, 2012Thanks for your explanations of hoarfrost and rime. Your photos are beautiful. We have had fog here for the last few days, but since it’s still warm, thankfully no ice!
Sheryl
/ November 3, 2012Thanks so much! I’m glad you don’t have to worry about ice!
Donna@Gardens Eye View
/ November 3, 2012Not common here but we do see some every year as it is humid here…fabulous captures!
Sheryl
/ November 3, 2012Thanks! It’s rather unusual for us to have it at this time of year – usually it happens more in January or February.
Organized Living Essentials
/ November 3, 2012Living in the same area as you I had no idea that there was another kind of frost called Rime. It is just as beautiful as hoarfrost. I love your photographs! ~Thea
Sheryl
/ November 4, 2012Thanks! Although the frost is so beautiful, I’m far happier with the sunshine and warmth this weekend!
Organized Living Essentials
/ November 4, 2012Me too! Just came in from trying to clear up the garden a bit to get it ready for the winter season because I just haven’t had the time or the cooperating weather to do it yet. I am thinking the garden will have to stay the way it is until the spring. Oh well. Have a good week. ~Thea
Sheryl
/ November 4, 2012Thanks, you too!
Gobetween
/ November 19, 2012Beautiful, does not occur in Gauteng, South Africa.
Sheryl
/ November 19, 2012It is definitely very pretty…but sometimes the cold and ice gets tiresome and we long for a climate more like yours!