Precipitation? Freezing!

Freezing fog, snow, freezing rain... It was interesting checking the current (local) weather conditions on the National Weather Service website to see the variety of precipitation that the weather wizard provided today. Freezing fog was a new condition for me, so new that I had to search for a definition to see if that was what I saw flying outside of my window.

Here's what I found in a glossary published by the American Meteorological Society: freezing fog is a fog the droplets of which freeze upon contact with exposed objects and form a coating of rime and/or glaze. And rime is a white or milky and opaque granular deposit of ice formed by the rapid freezing of supercooled water drops as they impinge upon an exposed object.

What's that I hear? I opened the door, and reached out a hand to catch some of the precipitation that was falling from the sky. Oh! It's little balls of ice. I need a picture! I captured some (could this be freezing fog? probably not, it may be sleet...) in a small bowl; it was posing for my camera!

Late afternoon came, and I needed an escape from the house. Walking, more walking... My feet tread the sometimes plowed road surface instead of attempting to find a way through snow-enshrouded sidewalks. Wind came and went, the precipitation continued, and my feet kept moving.

As I was getting closer to home, the wind speed increased. With a distinct wind-assist, the weather wizard started throwing ice crystals into my face. Hey - that stings!