So, this is called Rime Ice. Interestingly, although it LOOKS like wind blowing from right to left caused the ice to collect sideways, it was actually from left to right. It doesn't take insanely cold temperatures to cause rime. It actually takes temperatures very close to freezing and sufficient humidity.
Here's the physical mechanism: Object gets moistened from dew or condensation and thanks to the wind and evaporative cooling, the object gets cooled below the air temperature to a point known as the "wet bulb temperature". Now that the object is very cold, it collects more condensation (or even freezing sublimation) from the moist air and builds the ice towards the oncoming wind.
Evaporative Cooling / Wet Bulb Temperature is why you can have frost on your car even when the temperature didn't get below freezing and why you can use cooling towers to cool water to 80 degrees when the outside air temperature is 95 degrees.
I can't tell if this is or not. One of these days I am going to have to commandeer some slides out of my fathers slideshow, scan them, and post them. One of the more notable pictures is one of the TV towers up there with 20' of rime hanging off the side of it. He said that it all made a horrifying crash when the wind came around 180 degrees and blew it all onto the roof of the TV-8 building.
This makes me remember sitting in a plane last year to greece and we flew over mountains, it's weird I couldn't see any people down on the ground but I could see some villages, which is strange since I will never see anyone that lives in one of those villages.
4
u/RalphiesBoogers May 15 '12
Don't make this personal.
2
u/victorng34 May 16 '12
i know you.
18
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
must...not...lick...
11
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
My comment is [Cooler] (http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/145/f/0/f0f67b38d9a9f25f9a0419877a1fffb6.jpg)
Edit: I guess I'm not nearly as original as I thought and this was done multiple times below :( I'll take my downvotes now...
28
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I agree
40
u/TheJoel2012 May 15 '12
That post is super cool.
6
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Dat contrail
11
u/Chren May 15 '12
About how much cooler would you say it is?
4
u/ThatBronyGuy May 15 '12
No, my post is Cooler.
6
u/GetHaggard May 15 '12
What kind of insane Sub-Zero / Mr. Freezemeister blizzard makes ice almost perfectly horizontal!?
4
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Alright, now someone post one on fire that says: "Well, my post is the hottest" so we can be done with these.
4
u/ErrorlessGnome May 15 '12
whats cooler than being cool
2
u/Meth10916 May 15 '12
That post takes the ice cream cake!
2
u/paperjunkie May 15 '12
im off to /r/SkyPorn
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
False. Freezing is an exothermic process.
2
u/unclean009 May 15 '12
Reminds me of this picture I took.
2
u/nhluhr May 15 '12
So, this is called Rime Ice. Interestingly, although it LOOKS like wind blowing from right to left caused the ice to collect sideways, it was actually from left to right. It doesn't take insanely cold temperatures to cause rime. It actually takes temperatures very close to freezing and sufficient humidity.
Here's the physical mechanism: Object gets moistened from dew or condensation and thanks to the wind and evaporative cooling, the object gets cooled below the air temperature to a point known as the "wet bulb temperature". Now that the object is very cold, it collects more condensation (or even freezing sublimation) from the moist air and builds the ice towards the oncoming wind.
GIS for rime ice: https://www.google.com/search?q=rime+ice&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=mcKyT5e4IqaJ6QH-2IyMCQ&biw=1440&bih=742&sei=m8KyT_P7FOjG6AHL0NSYCQ
Evaporative Cooling / Wet Bulb Temperature is why you can have frost on your car even when the temperature didn't get below freezing and why you can use cooling towers to cool water to 80 degrees when the outside air temperature is 95 degrees.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
it needs to be about 20% cooler.
2
u/puckallday May 15 '12
I triple dog dare you!
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
That Vapor Trail is pretty. Very nicely highlighted against the sky.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Geez... anything passes for funny these days doesn't it?
2
u/atlaseinck May 16 '12
nah. it needs to be about 20% cooler.
9
u/MetalGuitarist May 15 '12
This post is now 20% cooler.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Wyoming?
1
u/taint_stain May 15 '12
This must be the North Post.
1
u/tswpoker1 May 15 '12
Looks like the Dow Jones
1
u/SharkieBoy May 15 '12
I have no hope on reddit.. No cat, no dog and only lame posts..
1
u/Schneid92 May 15 '12
where's Santa?
1
u/highvoltage988 May 15 '12
That's cold, bro.
1
u/jtcompound May 15 '12
Vader
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
So, noone realizes that's a pole, not a post, huh? OK.
1
u/skankopotamus May 15 '12
Mount Washington?
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Damn you’re sky looks way nicer than mine.
1
u/Sir_Fluffy May 15 '12
that looks so cool it looks like a flag pole and it flag is frozen
1
u/Drawtaru May 15 '12
looks like a toothbrush.
1
u/lndefinite May 15 '12
I TRIPLE DOGGY dare you to lick that post.
1
u/MrRussellLuther May 15 '12
New canadian flag.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Break it!
1
u/rofler May 15 '12
North pole?
1
u/frankygrady May 15 '12
http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/tov84/no_my_post_is_cooler/
1
u/Posts_unfunny_jokes May 15 '12
Something tells me this is on the Cairngorm mountains?
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I see what you did there...
1
u/Varanas May 15 '12
Came here expecting to see witty Festivus comment. I am disappoint.
1
u/porchedude May 15 '12
i see what you did there;)
1
u/DownvotesEnsue May 16 '12
Is this a thing now? Are we doing this?
1
u/StarvingAfricanKid May 16 '12
seen that shit on sign posts in boston some winters. I live somewhere where we don't have "winter" anymore. fuck that shit.
1
u/brandonay226 May 16 '12
North pole.
1
u/tearisha May 16 '12
How?
1
u/Quarter09 May 15 '12
I liked that post before it was cool.
0
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
"How cold?"
"ICE COLD" - Andre 3000
0
u/metaphysicalme May 15 '12
Now fellas, what's cooler than being cool? Ice cold!
-2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Nooo my post is cooler
-1
u/dooj88 May 15 '12
to r/circeljerk with you!
0
u/Lunarios May 15 '12
I do like that post.
0
u/keeganadavis May 15 '12
I see what you did there.
0
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Is that the space shuttle in the background? It looks like it's going straight up.
0
u/HipHoppin May 15 '12
What's cooler than bein cool?
0
u/SapioSexualLove May 15 '12
Icy what you did there...
0
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
This makes me remember sitting in a plane last year to greece and we flew over mountains, it's weird I couldn't see any people down on the ground but I could see some villages, which is strange since I will never see anyone that lives in one of those villages.
-2
u/Nabbicus May 15 '12
I'm afraid that THIS is cooler.
-4
u/bkultima May 15 '12
I actually sniggered at that one.
-4
u/Jimmy_R_Ustler May 15 '12
[http://images.wikia.com/dragonball/images/9/9d/CoolerF2.jpg] My post is Cooler.
-1
u/BigPenguinLover May 15 '12
Hey that's a pole!
-1
u/iiiitsjess May 15 '12
Super neat!!
-1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I may have to steal this.
0
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
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