Shelby and I snowshoed, the trail behind the canoe yard— up toward the spruce bog. We discovered all these these beautifully little feathery snowstructures-new to us. After dinner (with former staff Noah and Anna), we developed our own little wikipedia thesaurus for the formations. One of the definitions is correct, one partially correct, the rest are fiction.

Featherification: The residue of the ice particles within snowflakes creating a pattern also found in feathers. Cause of featherification is currently unknown.

Fleecite: Formations formed when the ice melts and the cold air comes descends from above forcing water droplets up and they freeze immediately

Flarcicle: Phenomenon occuring in the cold water in shallow areas of the lake where certain fish like to swarm, the crystallization forms from fish flatulence.

Hoarfrost formations: When the humidity is high, the morning cool weather causes the moisture to stick to everything and form ice crystals when it is damp out.

Advection frost refers to tiny ice spikes forming when there is a very cold wind blowing over surfaces. It looks like rimming the edge of flowers and leaves and usually it forms against the direction of the wind. It can occur at any hour of day and night.

Crystalized Feathercicles: The temperature of the water and the temperature of the air are in inverse relationship to each other, and on sunny winter days they reach the moisture in the air forms a conductor and freezes at the freezing point defined by that relationship. Open water is most common to the formation of crystal feathers.

Frostfeathers: The reverse process of honeycombed ice in which the water freezes slowly in hexoganal patterns. Happens when the air above is exactly the same temperature as the water below

Frice (Frosty ice): Heating and cooling of frost that covers the snow on top of ice. Creates a feather like crystal that “grows” when the sun is out.