I would call that a Scotch mist! We get that as well, plus ice fog in the winter.
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That link reminded me of sublimation, where frozen water slowly evaporates. Solid to gas. Snow patches get smaller, even though it is below freezing. Dreich sounds like my Scotch mist, but is a much better word.
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Misting is used here in Wisconsin, too, both for the previously mentioned rain but also sometimes light fog.
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You all need to read Landmarks by Robert MacFarlane right now. Nature words is what it is all about, and the writing is gorgeous. In between each chapter is a glossary of words in each category. And of course his Lost Words and Lost Spells picture books are unbelievable.
There is a word for bubbles trapped in ice, and several for the sound of walking through different kinds of terrain, and the relationship between the wind and land, etc. Grow your vocabulary and you expand your perception!
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Some of the old Maserati names were based on names for various types of wind experienced in and around the Mediterranean: khamsin (hot, dry, dusty wind), bora (northerly to north-easterly katabatic wind), ghibli (hot and dusty wind), etc.
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One of my favorites is pogonip itâs loosely derived from the Shoshone language and it refers to a dense, freezing fog that fills valleys and low spots in the western US.
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I wonder, is there a good English word or expression for the situation when it is raining, but the water turns to ice as soon as it hits any surface? In Lithuanian we call it âlijundraâ.
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Every now and then we will get Thundersnow!
Atmospheric instability when the air closer to the ground has to be warmer than the layers above, but still cold enough to make snow. Eerie!
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I think thatâs it?
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Welcome to the forum! Yes, elevation changes things. I had always wondered what cloud forest was and it wasnât until I went to Mexico that I saw the cooling effect of elevation/condensation that I really understood. In my part of the world (Winnipeg) the tallest physical feature is an old landfill, dubbed, appropriately, Garbage Hill.
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That sounds like an interesting read. Your comment about sounds reminded me that the sound made by walking on snow changes with temperature. Below -20C it squeaks when walked on.
@jurga_li @fffffffff I believe âlijundraâ is freezing rain. Itâs neat that you have one word for it.
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I live about 30 miles from Lake Michigan on the highest point in the area. Yes to everything you said. Between the lake and here is a sand dune that rules the weather, too. âLake effectâ is huge, daily.
One of the dangerous things with snow, all the above mentioned types, in layers and differing thawing and melting creates a honeycomb effect. One wrong step set me down nursing a pulled groin muscle. For months. Be careful out there!
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I call these sun showers. Never thought about connections to mushrooms.
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Virga is another interesting precipitation form thatâs common in arid regions such as SW U.S. Iâve seen it most commonly in summer when a storm cloud is dropping rain in long wispy strands but the air is too hot and dry for the drops to reach the ground before they evaporate. Itâs raining but if youâre standing beneath it you wonât get wet. Supposedly it can happen with snow in winter too.
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Sometimes hoarfrost is called freezing fog. It is amazing to see and hear the fog freeze when it lands on leaves.
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Iâm on the Pacific Coast; here are words and expressions we hear for the air and the stuff in it:
Crystal clear - rare conditions seen in the winter after a dry windy night; you can see scenic details across very large areas
Clear - fine air with little to no particulate, good visibility
Hazy - air has enough stuff (either vapor or particulates) to affect visibility
Smog - air has enough pollution particulates to limit visibility, yellow/brown tinge
VOG - (Hawaii only) sulfurous smelling air from volcanic emissions mixed with water vapor
Smoky - air smells of burning and particulates limit visibility, orange tinge
Ashy - a worse case of smoky; visible residue from fire/volcano activity
Dusty - air thatâs picked up a lot of ground particles from the wind
Parched - very hot dry air, feels dusty even if thereâs little particulate
Breeze - air molecules moving slowly
Breezy - air molecules are moving briskly
Windy - sustained air molecule movement, usually from one direction
Gusty - powerful air molecule movement that starts and stops and shifts
Heavy wind - powerful air molecule movement that can move large objects
Dust Devil - ground dust swirling in a circular pattern
Tornado - (rare on the coast) strong circular air movement
Hurricane-Force - extremely dense, high-volume air movement
AQI low/high - (modern) Air Quality Index seen on many online maps and weather pages now.
Humidity/dew point - metrics for water vapor suspended in the air that is not necessarily visible
Fog/Foggy - air has enough vapor to affect visibility at ground-level
Overcast - high-level fog that does not reach the ground but makes grey skies
Morning Overcast - high-level fog in the early morning hours that burns off as the morning warms.
Tule Fog - ground-level air has enough thick water vapor that visibility is obscured and driving is very risky
Clouds - drifting masses of water vapor (many variations)
Sky Cover - Usually a percentage expressing how much of the blue sky is obscured by clouds or overcast (50% sky cover ~= partially cloudy skies).
Misty - tiny water drops that float in the air are visible, but not really felt
Sprinkles - bigger water droplets that can be felt
Drizzle - water droplets hard to see but enough to wet the ground
Light rain - small droplets, often with partially cloudy skies (rainbows!)
Rain - visible water droplets that leave spots on surfaces and lasting at least 15 minutes
Real Rain - bigger droplets that lasts over 15 minutes
Blustery - heavy wind and rain that blows from different directions
Downpour - big droplets that fall very fast and wet everything quickly
Torrent - very heavy, fast falling rain
Sideways rain - heavy rain blowing horizontally due to heavy wind, especially wetting
Cloud Burst - Walls of falling water that limit visibility to a few feet or less, usually short lived
Atmospheric River/Pineapple Express - heavy, sustained rains for several days or a week
(Include various words for falling snow above 3000 feet only)
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And it causes ice storms when every surface gets well-coated with ice â very destructive to trees!
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That is amazing!
In Colorado, we have âchampagne powderâ snow, which is very dry, light snow. There are a lot of other terms skiers use for snow like âconcreteâ and the above mentioned âcorn snowâ but not being a skier, Iâm not familiar with them.
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I lived in the USâs PNW for a short time and heard a forecast for ârain changing to showersâ and was like âthereâs a difference??â I also remember shaking my fist at the window a lot and yelling âeither rain or stop raining!â because the constant wet in between mess wasnât like the rain I grew up with, nor was it dry.
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