Hoar

Day 48: It's hard to unlearn something when that "knowledge" is deeply ingrained. What I have always referred to as "rime" has been hoarfrost in 95% of all cases, the exception being some of the formations I've seen on wintry alpine mountaintops. What's the difference? Well, here's your chance to join me in practicing my motto: learn something new every day.

True rime is the product of a freezing fog. Hoarfrost is the deposition of ice crystals formed from moisture in the air and occurs in the absence of fog. Rime accumulates when water droplets come into contact with a cold surface. It generally grows toward the prevailing wind. Hoarfrost forms when there is no wind. That said, the literary convention of using "rime" to represent any form of frost is acceptable, but one source says that "compared to rime, hoarfrost forms larger, more delicate crystals, but it is often difficult to tell the two apart; when in doubt 'rime' is never entirely wrong." Still, I'm going to make a point to use the more scientifically accurate semantics from here on out.