Rime ice covered the trees this morning along Skyline Drive
WASHINGTON (ABC7) — Although it was a clear, chilly and breezy morning in the immediate DC Metro, there was a much different story in the mountains this morning.
Take a look at the photo above taken by Larry W. Brown at Big Meadows along Skyline Drive. No, that isn’t snow you are looking at. A layer of rime ice formed on the trees overnight and early this morning in the higher elevations.
This is due to enough moisture and supercooled droplets freezing on contact with the trees and branches that were below freezing. Here’s another view from the Pinnacles area of Skyline Drive where it isn’t quite as noticeable since it was a little later this morning.
You can see the cloud layer this morning in the satellite imagery below depicting that added moisture along the Blue Ridge and points west over the Shenandoah Valley. The cloud layer dissipated and the icing either melted or sublimated with the clear skies and warming temperatures.
