Winter 2020-2021: Hoarfrost & Rime Ice

Long time no see.

I’ve failed to put out a newsletter since November, and I am incredibly behind on creating any new work for YouTube, digital content, store merchandise, etc. Part of this is due to the fact that we continue to put lots of hard work into Singular Fortean, the other part of it is that I’ve frankly just been exhausted and unmotivated and have been taking more time for myself outside of my professional aspirations. It’s been a hard year or so, and I think we should all be gentle with ourselves and practice as much self-care as possible. We do have news on the status of the Monarch Butterfly in regards to the Endangered Species list, however, and I am planning on doing a video covering this and a 2020 season wrap up. My plan is to do the video sometime this spring once all data is available from the overwintering sites so I can create something really comprehensive. As far as my YouTube channel goes after that, I really don’t know. I won’t be doing much gardening this year as Tobias and I are looking to purchase our first home and it would be a shame to get everything planted and then just leave. We will see, but this is overdue and I am excited to be someplace we can call our own and I can do all my projects to my heart’s content with more space.

One thing I have done consistently, however, is continue to take my camera out when I’m inspired by nature. This past January, we were blessed to have several days of hoar frost and rime ice, which the photos are of below. Hoar frost forms on clear nights with little-to-no wind and very cold temperatures. As the Earth radiates its heat away into space at night, the surfaces of many objects near the ground become super-cooled, where temperatures drop very rapidly. Once the water vapor in the air comes into contact with these objects, they cool so quickly that they totally bypass the liquid phase and freeze on contact. This allows ice crystals to form over these objects. Rime ice, on the other hand, forms when fog develops in areas where the air temperatures are below freezing. They do look similar, and I used to think that all these formations were just known as hoar frost. I didn’t know that until recently, and if you didn’t know that, well, you’ve learned something today. I believe we mostly had rime ice during this time.

Despite temperatures being below zero for over a week, Tobias and I got out to our local conservatory for their Orchid display. It was out of this world, and it felt so wonderful to escape somewhere tropical, even if for a short time. If you have the opportunity to do so, I strongly recommend it. Much of February has been brutal with unprecedented winter conditions caused by climate change. I hope to create more content to spread awareness this year. What that will look like, I don’t know, but I any voice for the cause makes a difference. This planet is precious and beautiful, but nature is also fragile. We can all work together to be better to it.

Now go eat a paczki,

~Emily