Needle Ice

The weather has cooled down, with daily low temperatures near freezing. When I took my oldest daughter to the school bus this morning, the neighboring fields were covered in frost (霜 in Japanese). She wondered if there was any needle ice (霜柱 in Japanese). I asked her about it, and I was impressed that a four-year-old could give a pretty decent explanation of how needle ice is formed (though I am sure that she just repeated what she was told and does not yet understand capillary action).

I most often see needle ice when hiking in the winter, usually on the north side of mountain peaks. Even I am thrilled by the crunch of needle ice under my feet, so it is no surprise that my daughter loves it.