Hoarfrost. Strange and beautiful!

I started noticing this interesting weather phenomena this week.  As I was driving to work in the dark, I kept seeing these glistening diamond-like crystals on the grass, trees, bushes, signs, etc.  As my truck lights caught them, they presented beautiful displays and flashes of sparkling light. 

By day, they appeared to have grown and throughout the week, they have continued to enlarge and cling to just about everything.  I asked one of the guys at work what was causing that effect was and he told me the crystals were called hoarfrost.


T. Neil Davis is a seismologist at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and here's what he says about hoarfrost:

"In  late winter, intricate buildups of hoarfrost crystals have formed on all types of outdoor objects. 

Among winter's beauties are the intricate crystals--called hoarfrost--that form on branches, wires, poles and other objects. Hoarfrost is a sort of wintertime cousin to summer's dew and develops by similar processes.

Dew and hoarfrost accumulate on objects when there is more moisture in the air than the air can carry. Warm air carries in suspension more liquid water than does cold air.
The temperature at which the air is totally saturated is called the dew point. If the temperature of humid air is lowered until the humidity is 100%, then the dew point has been reached. Further cooling requires that the air lose part of its suspended water; the loss can come through rainfall, snowfall or the formation of dew or hoarfrost.

Curiously enough, pure water suspended in clean air remains in liquid form down to temperatures near -40°C (also -40°F). Below that temperature, the liquid droplets turn to ice--ice fog being a possible result. However, the normal ice fog known and loved in some northern cities comes from man made injection of water into cold still air.

If when air is cooled down it contains enough water to cause the dew point to be above freezing, then dew forms. But if the air is sufficiently dry that the dew point is below 0°C (32°F), then hoarfrost forms.

Hoarfrost consists of crystalline structures that grow from water vapor evaporated from liquid droplets suspended in air. Once hoar-frost crystals form, they can remain as long as conditions for their existence are favorable. But if the crystals or the air around them are warmed up, evaporation from the crystal surfaces leads to their demise. Hence in late winter the sun's warming rays will remove the hoar-frost from the south sides of objects.

Hoarfrost crystals are unique and quite beautiful.  It's worth it to look at them closely. They occur in an intricate variety of forms--needles, cups, plates, fern-like and feather-like--depending upon the temperature at which they developed." 

Saw the AK Pipeline

Yesterday I traveled to Fairbanks (It's becoming quite popular as a stop for other points in AK.) when we landed it was -2 degrees. 

We headed Southeast towards Delta Junction, Alaska about a two hour drive into the interior for a business meeting.

US Post Office - North Pole, AK

There were two things I was hoping that we would see along the way.  The first is North Pole, Alaska.  I'm not sure and I've tried to figure out where letters to Santa end up but it's hard to resist stopping and taking a picture of North Pole!  And yes, there is a "pole" that stands next to the highway and a huge Santa towers right next to it! 

The mayor wants you to..."Come visit North Pole!  And remember, Santa knows who’s been naughty or nice!" says Douglas W. Isaacson, who is the Mayor of North Pole.  Check out the city's
website, there's a bunch of interesting info there!  http://northpolealaska.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=77

We continued on towards Delta Junction and crossed the Tanana River at Big Delta Junction.  It's one of the places where you can see the Alaska Pipeline as it crosses the river and runs parallel to the road.



Stopped and took a pix of the Pipeline crossing the Tanana

The $8-billion Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, is one of history's most difficult engineering feats, and was the largest private construction project of its time.  When you reach Big Delta,  the Trans Alaska Pipeline Bridge holding the Pipeline is elevated 40 ft. above the Tanana River, this 1200-ft. bridge is the second longest on the route. (The longest crosses the Yukon River north of Fairbanks). In addition there is a good view of the Alaska Range to the south. Large parking area at east end of bridge.  You can clearly see the ice starting to build up in the Tanana River.  It won't be long with Winter temps around -30 that this river will be frozen solid. 

The 800-mile long Trans Alaska Pipeline System is one of the world's largest pipelines.  It starts in Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope and runs through some tough and beautiful terrain towards Valdez.  Since the Pipeline was put into place in 1977, there have been more than 16 barrels of oil transported through the pipeline.  It was an interesting thing for a Southern girl to see!