At times altocumulus cloud cover is pierced by circular or elongated holes, filled only with the wispiest of virga. These odd holes are known by many names: cavum, fallstreak holes, Keep reading
Tag: supercooling
Fallstreak Holes
Occasionally clouds appear to have a hole in them; these are known as fallstreak holes or hole-punch clouds. To form, the water droplets in the cloud must be supercooled; in Keep reading
Dual Structure of Water
Water is so ubiquitous in our lives that we rarely recognize just how strange it is. For example, when pure liquid water is supercooled well below its freezing temperature, it Keep reading
Freezing Drop Impact
At the altitudes where aircraft fly, it’s often cold enough for water drops to freeze in seconds or less. Once attached to a wing, such frozen drops disrupt the flow, Keep reading
“Ice Formations”
As perfect as ice can appear, it always starts with a defect. Without a speck of dust or soot to act as a seed, supercooled water simply will not freeze. Keep reading
Frost Spreading
Frost typically forms when supercooled droplets of water scattered across a surface freeze together. The freezing spreads via tiny ice bridges that link droplets together into a frozen network. The Keep reading
Supercooling Water
Supercooling is the process of lowering a fluid’s temperature below its freezing point without the fluid becoming solid. Though this may sound bizarre, it’s an effect you can recreate easily Keep reading
The Evolution of Icicles
The time-lapse video above shows the growth of icicles of various compositions under laboratory conditions. Many icicles in nature exhibit a rippling effect in their shape, which some theories attribute Keep reading
“Cascades”
Ryan Teague’s “Cascades” music video features the enchanting process of ice growth. A chamber full of supercooled water vapor subject to a strong electric field is stimulated to grow crystals Keep reading
Icing on Airplane Wings
Icing on airplane wings remains little understood and a major hazard. These photos show examples of ice formation along the leading edge of a swept wing. If an aircraft flies Keep reading