What causes these ice feathers?

on my wife’s car this morning. Amazing patterns.

There’s loads of them and the ice is quite thick/built up too.

Dendritic deposition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrite_(crystal)

A crystal dendrite is a crystal that develops with a typical multi-branching tree-like form. Dendritic crystal growth is very common and illustrated by snowflake formation and frost patterns on a window. Dendritic crystallization forms a natural fractal pattern. Dendritic crystals can form from growth instabilities that occur when the growth rate is limited by the rate of diffusion of solute atoms to the interface. In this case, there must be a concentration gradient from the supersaturated value in the solution to the concentration in equilibrium with the crystal at the surface. Any protuberance that develops is accompanied by a steeper concentration gradients at its tip. This increases the diffusion rate to the tip. In opposition to this is the action of the surface tension tending to flatten the protuberance and setting up a flux of solute atoms from the protuberance out to the sides. However, overall, the protuberance becomes amplified. This process occurs again and again until a dendrite is produced.

summary: it’s sciencey stuff, not jack frost.

Cheers lemonysam 🙂

At the risk of sounding like Monty Python’s self-satisfied Yorkshiremen going on about the old days, during the winter of ’62 when I was a mere scrap of a nipper, we lived without central heating and this was exactly what I found every morning on my bedroom window. On the inside!

Me too Mr Woppit – I was 14 before we had central heating.

Nails I was.

The subsequent 34 years of soft living have ruined me, though.

Yeah, kids today, eh? Pfft! 😀

LOL, first time I stayed at my parents in laws house was met with something similar on the inside of the windows. 400 year old house with no central heating.

Luckily, me and the now wife managed to fin something to do to keep warm 😆

something to do to keep warm

thanks….was trying to have breakfast!

😆

Every winter as a kid! Remember my uncle having to unfreeze us out of the caravan because the door had frozen shut!
You could make really cool shapes by drawing on the window as the condensation formed and the formations would follow them

this was exactly what I found every morning on my bedroom window. On the inside!

Blimey, that’s brought back childhood memories! That was Jack Frost doing his work on our windows back then.

Mr Woppit – Member
At the risk of sounding like Monty Python’s self-satisfied Yorkshiremen going on about the old days, during the winter of ’62 when I was a mere scrap of a nipper, we lived without central heating and this was exactly what I found every morning on my bedroom window. On the inside!

Not just my bedroom window, my bedroom wall sparkled when the light was switched on in the morning. House had one fire, in the living room. A bit brisk when getting ready for school in the morning, in ’63, I was the first kid to wear long trousers at my junior school.

Jebus, is this place full of old ****s?