 Don't you just love when you wake up to a beautiful winter morning? Have you ever wondered what this thick frost is on plants? Well, today is your lucky day. This phenomenon is known as whore frost. Whore frost, also called radiation frost, is formed on cold nights when heat is lost into the atmosphere, causing objects to become colder than the surrounding air. White ice crystals grow out from the solid surface. Their size depends on time, temperature, and the amount of water vapor or humidity available. It is similar to the dew we see on summer mornings. The interlocking ice crystals attach to branches, leaves, grass blades, dry weeds, and other objects, making the world seem like a winter wonderland. Whore frost also occurs in man-made environments, such as your freezer, where humidity and moisture enter and freeze instantly. So when you defrost your freezer, you are getting rid of a buildup of whore frost. So whether outside or in your freezer, whore frost is an interesting sight to behold. From the University of Wyoming Extension, I'm Tina Russell, Exploring the Nature of Wyoming.