The central US has been hit with multiple snow and ice storms in the past two weeks demonstrating what we expected form this strong El Nino so far. Thanksgiving brought a particularly heavy icing event to Mustang, Oklahoma that produced something spectacular. That was where Barbie Jeffers Battershell was driving with her daughter and stopped to take this photo. The speed limit of 25 mph in an ice storm might be comic relief itself, but the veil of ice hanging from the sign is most unusual.
If you look closely, there appears to be an imprint of the numbers, but the sign itself is flat. So how did this happen?
The angle of the sign was facing the sun’s direction, even through cloud cover. This is where the term albedo comes in to play. Light colors reflect light, while darker colors absorb more. That is why you might wear light colored clothing in the summer to stay cooler.
That was just enough to warm the black letters a little more than the white sign. The result: The ice grew thicker over the background, than over the numbers (and letters). What’s more impressive was that the shield of ice must have melted just enough, briefly to slide below the sign, only to get stuck with more ice accumulating below.
According to Barbie, the temperature never dropped below 30°F. While the power was out, but thankfully her phone was working and she was able to share this image. @barbierief never expected this much attention, but it has been viewed by millions. I personally love the science lesson behind it, and will use this for all of my winter school assemblies.
Last Thanksgiving it was our turn in the Mid Atlantic to have a taste of early winter. Check out the top photos:
Thanksgiving Snow Of 2014: Top 16 photos
Also See:
20 top ice photos from 2014 year in weather
Holiday Spirit Giveback: Faith in the Flakes Christmas Shirts
My boys and I are rocking our shirts from last year and believe we will see snow this month. It might be hard to imagine with this stretch of rain. We want to spread the joy in a new way. Among the new styles, we have holiday or Christmas colors, and waiting for ours to be printed. We thought it would be great if families would wear these together to open gifts under their trees. In appreciation for your support, we will be using 20% of the proceeds of these holiday shirts to purchase winter coats for kids and donating them before Christmas. The collections from this design will be added up through Dec 21 (official start of winter).
We know Hanukah is this weekend, and there are other holidays you may celebrate. This is the most universal.
Will you join our family with your family?
See all of the designs here, hosted by local printing partner Ink Splash in Westminster.
Also see: My Winter Outlook 2015-2016
Please share your thoughts, best weather pics/video, or just keep in touch via social media
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Get the award winning Kid Weather App I made with my oldest son and support our love for science, weather, and technology. Our 3 year anniversary of the release and our contribution to STEM education is this November. It has been downloaded in 60 countries, and works in both temperature scales. With your support we can expand on the fun introduction to science and real weather.
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