Mondo Knows Facts

Frost forms straight from water vapour

On cold nights vapour turns to ice without first becoming liquid water When a surface cools below freezing and below the frost point, water vapour in the air deposits directly onto it as ice crystals. This is why frost patterns appear on grass and windows on clear winter nights. Clear skies help, because the ground radiates heat away quickly. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Met Office

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: weather, ice, water

Frost forms straight from water vapour: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
On cold nights vapour turns to ice without first becoming liquid water. The figure is taken from Met Office, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a science fact?
Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.