On still, cold mornings the plains wake transformed, every twig and grass blade and fence wire furred in white hoarfrost, the countryside briefly made of crystal.
Now and again on a still, cold winter morning, the plains wake transfigured. Every twig, every blade of dead grass, every strand of barbed wire and every weed stalk stands furred in delicate white crystals, the whole countryside turned briefly to spun sugar and glass. This is hoarfrost, and there are few more beautiful sights in the plains winter.
A Countryside Furred in White
It forms when the air is cold, still and moist, and water vapor freezes directly onto every cold surface it touches, building feathery crystals through the long night. When such a night is followed by a windless, sunlit dawn, the frost survives to be admired, sparkling on a landscape that only hours before was drab and brown and gray.
From the almanac's reckoning:
- Hoarfrost forms when vapor freezes directly onto cold surfaces overnight.
- It requires cold, still, moist air to build its feathery crystals.
- A breath of wind or an hour of sun quickly ends the display.
A breath of wind or an hour of sun will end the spell, and the crystals will vanish as if they had never been. The almanac counts the hoarfrost morning among the quiet gifts of the plains winter — a fleeting beauty granted to those willing to rise into the cold and look.
Elsewhere in the Almanac
The Harvest Sky and the Weather That Brings the Crop In
The success of a whole year can turn on the weather of a few autumn weeks, when the plains grower prays for the dry, breezy days that let the combines run.
The January Thaw and the Midwinter Reprieve
Deep in the heart of winter, the plains often enjoy a brief and welcome softening, a spell of milder days that the old-timers have long marked on the calendar.
Frost Dates and the Short, Bright Growing Season
Between the last frost of spring and the first of autumn lies the narrow window in which the plains must raise a crop, and the whole calendar of the farm bends to it.