Charlotte, North Carolina—Welcome to the frost season. At this time of the year, if conditions are right, you may find yourself scraping your windshield or waiting for a defroster. 

Not every cold night into the winter creates a cold landscape. To form frost, you need 3 C: clear sky, cold cold air and calm environment. 

When the sky is clear, the heat during the day will quickly escape into the atmosphere, maximizing our calm down. Whenever it is cloudy, it acts like a blanket, limiting cooling.

When the temperature drops to the same value as the dew point, moisture will be produced on the surface. This is called the frost point.

When the surface or ground temperature is 32 degrees or less, moisture or water vapor will turn into frost. 

Frost is a delicate process. Strong winds can destroy the formation simply by mixing air.

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The most common is called hoarfrost. 

Hoarfrost is derived from the Old English word "hoary", which means gray, old and stale. Therefore, it is said that hoarfrost is similar to the beard of an old man.

Hoar frost is usually seen on grass and cars in winter. When water vapor comes into contact with an icy surface—and not disturbed by wind—it forms a beautiful crystal pattern, also known as hoarfrost.

Frozen dew means that once the temperature drops below 32°, dew will form and freeze. This will appear as frozen water droplets.

Advection frost forms when cold, humid air blows over the surface for a long time and looks like small ice thorns. 

Temperature also controls how long the car takes to defrost or how much elbow grease needs to be scraped off. When the temperature is between 29 and 32 degrees, the frost is easily scraped off. 

Once these surfaces reach 25 degrees or lower, defrosting will take more time and effort.

So keep these scrapers on hand this winter and keep it warm!

Join our WCNC at around 6:45 every Wednesday morning to get a new weather IQ and let us all know the weather better.

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