Photo: Winter scenery (Hoarfrost)
Winter, is of course, one of the things people associate with Canada.
It can be one of the prettiest times of year with lots of fun activities
like skiing, skating and tobogganing to enjoy. During most of the
populated areas of Alberta, winters do not get too terribly cold (though
we do have our moments). Winters are made more pleasant by the
Chinooks that happen sporadically through the season. Chinooks are
dry, warm, and strong winds that blow down the eastern slopes of the
Rocky Mountains, bringing above average temperatures to Alberta and
parts of the United States. In some cases, chinooks have been
known to raise a winter day's temperature 20 degrees in less than an
hour.
This photo shows a snowy creek in the national
park in Alberta. |
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This photo shows hoarfrost on the tree branches with a farm
shed in the background.
A bit of science: Hoarfrost is a deposit of interlocking ice
crystals (hoar crystals) on small objects like tree branches, plant
stems and barbed wire. You get the hoar crystals instead of ice
when there is a fair amount of water vapor in the air which freezes
right onto the small objects -- instantly becoming a solid crystal
without becoming a liquid (water) first. This process of going
from gas to solid (skipping the liquid state) is called sublimation. |
