Frost - Ice Crystals

It's very, very cold outside today! It's freezing, even! When it gets cold enough outside to freeze the water droplets in the air, we say that we have a "frost". This is a picture of the frozen grass on my front lawn.
Look at the individual ice crystals on these leaves! These are tiny leaves, about the size of your Mom's thumbnail. Click on the pictures to see a larger view.

This is not carpet! This is a close up of the ice crystals on the car's windshield! Did you know that this is the way ice looks up close? Click on the picture for a full screen view.

The next time that you have frost at your house, dress warmly and go outside to get a good look for yourself!

Do you notice that very near the house there is no ice or frost? Not always, but if it is a light frost, often times there will be ice all over the entire outdoors, but not next to the house! Do you know why that is? It's because the house is actually kind of warm, and the temperature of the ground next to it doesn't get all the way down to freezing!

Do an experiment! When there is a weather forecast for frost, before you go to bed, place a piece of newspaper out on your lawn, away from the house.

Put a rock on it to keep it from blowing away in case of a breeze.

When you get up in the morning, if it has frosted over night, dress warmly and go outside to see! There will likely be ice crystals on your lawn, on the rock and on the newspaper, but the lawn under the newspaper will probably have no ice crystals!

Can you tell me why there aren't ice crystals there? Tell me what you think!

For more information on frost and the weather, check out The Weather Channel Kids!