During my frequent wanderings in the Central Apennines, several times I have been able to observe a phenomenon whose nature and rarity I only now know: frost-flowers, peculiar dendritic formations that form on frozen water surfaces, creating fantastic landscapes.
The fact is that science has begun to describe them rather recently: they are a small natural wonder more prevalent in the northern part of the world – where the right conditions are at home – than in our latitudes, especially those of Central Italy.
In fact, frost blossoms can form only under precise conditions: a dry atmosphere, a sufficiently large temperature difference between the ice surface and the atmosphere, and almost complete wind calm are required. The air temperature must be below -15°C and the ice surface on which they form thin and free of snow.
If all these conditions are realized the water in the vapor state in the air solidifies on the ice surface creating the wonderful, icy, branching formations several centimeters in size that we see in the picture.
