WICHITA, Kan. 9KSNW) — A KSN viewer has shared photos of a frost phenomenon they captured in Woodson and Wilson counties.
The viewer asked not to be identified but writes, “You can see in the pictures where the frost came from within the stem of the plant and caused it to fracture open. The frost had the crumbly texture of a flakey pastry if it were made of ice.”
This phenomenon is called Frost Flowers. For it to form, you need three things: freezing air temperatures, plants like weeds or wildflowers with long stems, and west or moist, unfrozen soil.
The water is drawn up from the ground into the plant through capillary action and expands as it freezes, creating tiny slits in the stem where ice forms in paper-thin sheets that curl as they grow. The more water, the bigger they can “grow.”
Frost Flowers are not the same as Hoar Frost, although both require moisture and freezing temperatures.