In the ditches beside the highway there was about an inch of snow, but more exposed areas were clear. Except on certain of the weeds. And two puddles. There, the snow was individual blobs, like small flakes, but each one separate. And only on ice or organic material. But not on moss or evergreen needles.
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| The rocks are dry. The weeds are damp. |
I thought at first that the blobs were the remainders of hail, but no, they were soft as new-fallen snow.
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| Ice on a puddle. With mini-snow blobs. |
And why did the ice form in long sticks?
So confusing!
Air tends to cool faster than land. When the temperature hovers around freezing, the more insulated the snow is from the land, the longer it will stay as snow. That's why snow on rocks/roads doesn't accumulate when the air temps are just hovering around freezing. Flakes that land on plant leaves that have fine hairs to keep the flakes elevated will last longer too. That's my theory, anyway.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. Thank you!
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