Weather Outside Your Window: AccuWeather School: Frost is not frozen dew

y Kristina Pydynowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

Updated Sep. 29, 2020 8:24 PM

After a fun couple of months of Summer Camp, AccuWeather School is back in session with more engaging and educational virtual lessons to help kids and interested adults learn more about the weather – and have fun doing so!

📝 Sept. 29 - Pop quiz! Is frost frozen dew?

If you walk through the grass on an early morning summer day, your shoes may get wet from dew. Fast-forward to when the nights start getting colder: Dew is replaced by frost.

Frost forms under the same weather conditions as dew, except that temperatures have to be at or below freezing – so it makes sense that some people may think that frost is frozen dew, but that is the wrong answer on this pop quiz:

Frost is not frozen dew, just like snow is not frozen rain (and freezing rain is real and can make your driveway and sidewalks very slippery!).

If there is something similar to freezing dew, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said that it would be rime ice.

Thumbnail image provided by AccuWeather Meteorologist Danielle Knittle.

🍳 Sept. 29 - Cooking class: Can you melt butter in a car, even though it’s fall?

If you joined us for AccuWeather Summer Camp, you may remember how we melted a stick of butter using nothing but a hot car in 30 minutes. That experiment was done in June, when it is normal for the sun to bake the inside of cars. Now that it is fall, do you think we can get the same results? Let’s find out:

It took a little longer than when we did this experiment in June, but the point is the same: Never underestimate the power of the sun. Even in the fall on comfortably warm days, cars can become dangerously hot when the windows are up.

The sun’s rays are able to get inside a car but cannot get out – causing it to heat up like a greenhouse. So remember to never let your parents leave you, a sibling or your pet in a car without the AC on, even for a short run into the store.

On another sunny day this fall, let’s plan to try to use the sun to bake chocolate chip cookies in our cars – that worked over the summer!

🌎 Sept. 25 - History Class: Why do hurricanes never seem to threaten California?

There are beaches along the West Coast of the United States, but why do you never see hurricanes hit California as they do Florida, North Carolina or any states along the Gulf of Mexico or East Coast? The answer lies in the ocean.

While water has no trouble getting warm enough for a hurricane to form in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore of the East Coast, it’s a different story along the West Coast. The Pacific Ocean along the coast of Southern California typically doesn’t get any higher than 70 F (21 C) – so that sort of acts like a force-field that protects California from getting hit by a hurricane.

This image, captured on Wednesday, Aug.19, 2020, shows Genevieve spinning just south of the southern tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico. (NOAA/GOES-West). Hurricanes frequently threaten Mexico, but dramatically weaken over the cooler water near California if they track northward.

However, one hurricane overcame the ocean’s force-field and came very close to San Diego way back in early October 1858, and there is only one time in history when a tropical storm made landfall in Southern California – in September 1939.

It’s not just cool water that is the kryptonite for hurricanes, but also strong winds high above our heads. This weather phenomenon is called wind shear, and something as simple as birthday candles can help us understand why wind shear can put the brakes on a hurricane from forming and becoming a monster storm.

⛅️ Sept. 25 - Cloud scavenger hunt: Funnel cloud imposters in the sky!

Look at the photo below. Does that look like it could be a funnel cloud, which may touch down and become a tornado?

Photo by AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski

Actually, these scary-looking clouds are harmless and have a funny name. Let’s find out more, as well as what the wall of rain that you may have seen sweeping toward your house is called:

🎓 Sept. 22 - AP class: The sun rarely rises due east or sets due west

Many people love to watch the sun rise and set – if there are clouds overhead, or even smoke or dust in the sky, you can get some really pretty photos!

The next time you see sunrise or sunset, pay close attention to where the sun is on the horizon – you will notice that it changes throughout the year. Also, grab your compass. It may surprise you that the sun doesn’t rise directly to the east and set directly to the west unless it’s the equinox (which Sept. 22 is). Let’s find out more:

In between sunrise and sunset, watch your shadow: it will also grow between now and the first day of winter (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere):

📓 Sept. 22 - Homework: Try balancing an egg on its end

It’s officially fall in the Northern Hemisphere (and spring in the Southern Hemisphere) as the equinox occurred on Sept. 22 at 9:30 a.m. EDT. What’s the equinox? That’s when the sun’s rays are aimed directly at the equator.

Around the equinox, which also happens around March 20-22 when spring starts in the Northern Hemisphere, the hours of daylight and darkness are about the same. Also, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west.

OK, back to your homework, why are we asking you to try and balance an egg on its end? Some people believe that the gravitational pull placed on the egg on the equinox allows it to remain upright throughout the day.

“That’s not true,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Samuhel. “You can get lucky and balance an egg anytime. It has nothing to do with the equinox.”

To complete your homework whether it’s the first day of fall or a month from now, you just need a lot of patience, concentration and a really solid surface (and permission from your parents in case you make a mess!).

⚡ Sept. 22 - Shocking Truth: Summer’s over, but lightning dangers aren’t

It may be fall in the Northern Hemisphere, but don’t let your guard down for lightning – back on Sept. 19, 1992, a football player in Maryland was struck by lightning! Listen to the AccuWeather This Date in Weather History podcast to hear how the bolt of lightning smashed his helmet, but he wasn’t seriously hurt – talk about good luck!

Summer is the time of the year when most people get struck and killed by lightning – AccuWeather School substitute teacher, Lightning Safety Specialist John S. Jensenius, Jr., said that more than 70 percent of lightning deaths happen in June, July and August.

Math class time – that leaves nearly 30 percent for the rest of the year. Thunderstorms rumble and scare us the most during the summer, but always run indoors as soon as you hear thunder anytime of the year!

🏊🏽 Sept. 18 - Swim class: Sea oats aren’t for your breakfast cereal!

When you visit the ocean, you may recognize the following sign urging you to stay off the sand dunes.

Photo by AccuWeather Meteorologist Danielle Knittle.

Sand dunes look like perfect spots to climb on top and roll down or to build a sand castle – but why are you told to stay off of them? Plus, what are sea oats? They aren’t something that farmers grow at the beach for you to eat at breakfast. Let’s find out more below:

As the video says above, sand dunes are a wall of protection for homes and businesses along the beach when a storm or even the moon causes the ocean to be pushed higher up onto the beach than normal.

That’s right, if you want to know when the highest tides of the month will be, find out when the moon will be in a new or full phase. Now let’s add a strong storm to the mix – that storm’s winds can drive the ocean farther up to the dunes. Sadly, the dunes may not stand a chance against the storm surge flooding from a powerful hurricane.

🏕️ Sept. 18 - Field Trip Day: What would the beach look like without humans?

Let’s put on our imagination caps and go back a few hundred years ago when there weren’t homes, resorts and businesses that lined the beach – what would a stroll along the ocean look like?

Myrtle Beach State Park in South Carolina gives us that glimpse into the past as this park is in a more natural state – meaning, the park has let nature take over across a mile stretch of the beach. If you can’t make the trip to South Carolina (we understand, school is back in session!), enjoy this virtual field trip – complete with a bird and frog that wanted to say hi to everyone!

📚 Sept. 14 - Study Hall: Multiple generations of monarch butterflies born in one year!

When you see a monarch butterfly fluttering past you, be sure to say goodbye as you will likely never see that butterfly again.

Monarch butterflies will head to their winter homes in one journey – a flight that is 3,000 miles for some monarchs that live east of the Rocky Mountains. These monarchs head to the mountains of central Mexico. West of the Rockies, some monarchs also fly to the coast of California.

The butterflies that reach Mexico will never return to the northern United States and southern Canada. They travel only a short trip back to the north and lay eggs in the spring; the new butterflies will complete another leg of the journey before laying eggs; and it takes at least another one generation before the butterflies reach their summer home.

Even then, the U.S. Forest Service says that there are two more generations before the “super generation” is born. Let’s do the math, the new “super generation” of butterflies are the great-great-great grandkids (or butterflies) of the “super generation” from the previous winter – imagine how hard it is to keep track of that family tree!

⛹️‍♂️ Sept. 14 - Recess: ‘Super generation’ of monarch butterflies migrate each fall

The monarch butterfly is one of the prettiest sights of the summer, but do you know of the amazing journey that these tiny winged insects take each fall?

The phenomenon of the monarch butterflies migrating to their winter home in Mexico as the weather turns colder is known as a “super generation” -- that’s what Pablo Jaramillo-López, a research scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told National Geographic.

Most monarch butterflies only live 2 to 6 weeks, while this “super generation” of monarchs lives 8 to 9 months – it’s just the cooler weather that allows them to live longer.

Butterflies are cold-blooded, meaning they have to find ways to warm and cool their bodies. The cool weather slows the butterflies down – they don’t eat over the winter and wait to lay their eggs until the spring.

Don’t worry, the United States Forest Service said that the monarch butterflies don’t get hungry over the winter. Much like animals that hibernate, monarchs eat enough in the fall and store up that fat to get them through the winter. They do still need to drink and sip on the water and dew in Mexico.

In this April 26, 2015 file photo, a monarch butterfly feeds on a duranta flower in Houston. Six states and the Federal Highway Administration signed an agreement Thursday, May 26, 2016, to make Interstate 35 roadsides more conducive to bees and butterflies by integrating plants that provide refuge and food for the pollinators in hopes of helping them recover from declining populations. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan,File)

🔬 Sept. 11 - Weather Lab: Does cold water boil faster than warm water?

Have you ever been asked to boil a pot of water and heard someone tell you to use cold water since that will boil faster? Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) outside of the high mountains, so colder water boiling faster than warmer water may not seem to make sense. However, if enough people are wondering what is the correct answer – let’s head to the kitchen to find out:

We tried this test at least three times to make sure of the result, and as a reminder for any kids, be sure to have an adult help you if you want to do your own test at home.

The test above shows that when all things are equal, colder water will not boil faster than warmer water – from a scientific point of view. However, there are a few things we have to mention about why some people may think the opposite is true (as a good scientist would do).

If you have to let the water run out of the faucet until it’s warm enough, you may not have saved any time by using the warmer water (and you wasted some water).
In the above test, the difference between the cold and warm water used was about 55 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). In the summer, the water coming out of the cold faucet may not be that chilly and won’t lose the race to the warmer water to boil faster by much.

OK, time to write up our scientific conclusion – it is a fact that cold water will not boil faster than warmer water. Plus, running the water to get it warm enough to get a jump start on the boiling process may not save you any time in the kitchen.

🎨 Sept. 11 - Art Class: The case of the disappearing meteorologist

If you watch your favorite meteorologist on TV every day, you may notice that they never wear green. Why is that? AccuWeather On-Air Meteorologist Geoff Cornish solves this mystery, and it’s not as simple as that meteorologists hate the color green!

“Wait a minute, I’ve seen some meteorologists on the AccuWeather Television Network wearing green!” – is that what you are thinking? While meteorologists stand in front of a green screen at most television stations, the main studio at AccuWeather is set up differently:

Recently, you may also have noticed that some meteorologists are filming weather reports from home – maybe even in their basements! Just like you may have had to switch to remote learning for school, some meteorologists are staying home to stay safe from coronavirus. Don’t worry – you are still getting accurate weather forecasts!

📝 Sept. 8 - Pop quiz! What percentage of tsunamis are caused by earthquakes?

If you said, more than 80 percent, you get a gold star! That’s right, most tsunamis are triggered when the tectonic plates way below our feet shift and shake the ocean.

Did you know that the weather has caused tsunamis before? These dangerous waves are called meteotsunamis (makes sense since people who study the weather are called meteorologists, right?).
A quick change in air pressure, which can happen with a fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms, can act as the plunger we used earlier to explain tsunamis.

(NOAA/Michelle McGahey)

Volcanoes and landslides can also be blamed for triggering tsunamis. Speaking of volcanoes, let’s listen to the This Date in Weather History podcast to hear the story of one of the deadliest volcano eruptions in modern history.

🔬 Sept. 8 - Weather Lab: Toilet bowl plungers help explain tsunamis

It’s a quiet day on the ocean with gentle ripples in the water, when all of a sudden – bam – an earthquake hits. If that earthquake is under the water or near the coast, there is a risk of a tsunami wave being triggered – tsunamis can then flood beaches and kill people who haven’t moved to higher ground.

If you are trying to picture what a tsunami looks like, see how terrifying it was for people in Indonesia when one tsunami crashed ashore:

Now, let’s grab a toilet bowl plunger to see how a tsunami starts – but it won’t be as scary as the tsunami you just saw!

Obviously, tsunamis are much bigger than what you saw in the video above -- but that showed how a quick jolt in the ocean can trigger a wave. When a tsunami wave hits a beach, it may look like a wall of water or a fast-rising flood, NOAA said, and the power of water is what makes tsunamis so dangerous.

⛹️‍♂️ ⛹️‍♂️ Sept. 8 - Gym class: How to survive a tsunami – you can’t dive under it!

Do you like jumping in the waves in the ocean? When a large wave is coming, you dive under the wave to make sure that it doesn’t knock you down, right? However, you can’t do that when a tsunami wave is about to strike – you have to get to higher ground and run away from the beach as soon as a tsunami warning is issued:

Why can’t you just dive under a tsunami wave? The waves that you typically play in at the beach ride along the top of the ocean, our friends at NOAA point out. On the other hand, a tsunami moves through the entire ocean – from the ocean’s floor to the top of the water. There is nowhere to dive underneath it.

⛹️‍♂️ Sept. 4 - Recess: Spotting and escaping rip currents

If you are lucky enough to spend this weekend at the beach, don’t let rip currents ruin your trip!

Here’s how you can spot dangerous rip currents that can push you out into the deeper part of the ocean, and what you can do if you get caught in one – the main thing to remember is not to panic:

The scary thing is that the weather doesn’t have to be bad for there to be rip currents -- a far away storm, such as a hurricane, can stir up rip currents at the beach you are headed to. Plus, you don’t have to be at the ocean to be threatened by rip currents – they can happen along any large body of water, including in the Great Lakes.

It’s time to gather around for storytime and hear one man tell his story of how he nearly died in a rip current along the shores of Lake Michigan – it’s scary, but a good reminder to always swim with a lifeguard present:

🔬 Sept. 4 - Weather Lab - Wind is not the deadliest part of a hurricane

A hurricane is about to make landfall along the coast – what images come to your mind of what videos you will see on social media from that area? Powerful winds bringing down trees and causing damage to homes?

Hurricanes whip up extremely strong winds, but did you know that those winds are not what causes the most deaths in a hurricane? Flooding from storm surge and heavy rain is what has killed the most people in the United States during hurricanes in the last 50 years.

Views of inundated areas in New Orleans following breaking of the levees surrounding the city as the result of Hurricane Katrina. (Photo/Lieut. Commander Mark Moran, NOAA Corps, NMAO/AOC)

It’s easy to understand how a lot of rain can lead to flooding, but what is storm surge flooding? Check out the video below for the answer:

The water from the Gulf of Mexico that Hurricane Katrina pushed onto the coast rose 25 to 28 feet (7.5 to 8.5 meters) above normal tide levels. OK, think of how tall you are and picture yourself standing at the beach – if you are five feet (1.5 meters) tall, that means it would have taken 5 to 6 of you standing on top of one another to equal how high the water rose.

Buildings cannot take on that much water, creating a very dangerous situation for anyone who did not evacuate ahead of a hurricane.

🏕️ Field Day: Behind-the-scenes tour of the AccuWeather TV studios

The national AccuWeather TV Network broadcasts from AccuWeather’s Headquarters in State College, Pennsylvania, and you get to enjoy a virtual tour of our two different television sets thanks to AccuWeather on-air meteorologists Brittany Boyer and Geoff Cornish.

AccuWeather not only has traditional green screen sets like most television studios, but also a more modern and sleek television set. The main difference between the two sets is that Brittany and Geoff can wear green on the new set but not the green screen set!

From these television sets, Brittany, Geoff and AccuWeather’s other on-air meteorologists broadcast to more than 24 million homes. Are you in one of those homes that sees the AccuWeather Network on Verizon Fios, AT&T TV NOW, Frontier Cable and DIRECTV®?

🌎 Sept. 3 - History Class: AccuWeather has been providing forecasts since 1962

AccuWeather has been providing forecasts to your family before you and, for some, your parents were even born! AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Dr. Joel N. Myers.

On November 15, 1962, Dr. Myers began forecasting the weather for a gas utility company in Pennsylvania. More and more clients followed -- Dr. Myers first provided weather to a ski resort in 1963 and then added the company’s first forensic weather customer in 1965. The first radio station to be served by AccuWeather was WARM-AM in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the first television station served was WPVI-TV in Philadelphia beginning in 1972.

Fast-forward to today and AccuWeather serves more than 1.5 billion people daily to help them plan their lives and get more out of their day. AccuWeather has offices in State College, Pennsylvania, Wichita, Kansas, New York City, and elsewhere across the globe!

How about AccuWeather’s name? That’s simple – Accuracy + Weather = AccuWeather!

🎓 Sept. 3 - AP class: Does boiling water freeze faster than cold water?

We spent the day getting a behind-the-scenes tour at AccuWeather -- seeing the television studios and learning how AccuWeather has been providing forecasts since before some of your parents were born!

Did you know that not all meteorologists forecast the weather? Some meteorologists are working hard to solve questions about the weather (this is called research), which may in turn lead to better forecasts for you and your family.

It may make sense that meteorologists are working hard to learn more about powerful hurricanes and tornadoes, but even simple questions have yet to be answered -- such as does boiling water freeze faster than cold water? Let’s see how close meteorologists are to solving that mystery by clicking on this link.

🎨 Sept. 2 - Art Class: Exploring light pillars streaking in the sky

We learned earlier about what the rays of sun that streak through the sky are called, but the nighttime hours can bring other neat sights in the sky – moonbows, Northern Lights and light pillars, to name a few.

Let’s explore light pillars a little more – it’s really fascinating how they look and form!

When the sun is setting or rising and there are cirrus clouds overhead, keep an eye out for a sun pillar – that’s a single streak of light extending straight up from the sun. Why do you need cirrus clouds to see a sun pillar? The key to them forming is the ice crystals that are only found in these clouds, which float in the really cold air high above our heads.

🛎 Sept. 2 - Morning Bell: Why can you see rays of sunshine at times?

Have you ever seen rays of sunshine streaking through clouds? It definitely creates a pretty sight!

(joosepkuusik/Pixabay)

There is actually a name for these rays – (big word time!) they are called crepuscular rays. Much like when the sky will turn vibrant colors of yellow, orange and red, crepuscular rays are seen at sunrise and sunset – and are also typically yellow or red.

If you want to see these pretty rays of sun, you need clouds or other things, such as mountains, for the rays to stream through, as well as dust or haze in the air for the sunlight to reflect off of and make the rays visible.

Here’s another interesting tidbit on crepuscular rays – they always look like they are starting from one spot in the sky, but that’s just our eyes playing tricks on us. The same thing happens when you stand on a long stretch of railroad tracks; the tracks look like they come together far away – but we all know that isn’t the case (thanks to University of Illinois for helping us understand that!).

🔬 Sept 1. - Weather Lab: Birthday candles can help explain hurricanes

Hurricanes produce really strong winds that can destroy homes, but winds over the area where the hurricane is forming or moving through have to be light or the hurricane may never exist. Time to get out our birthday candles to understand that:

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Larson challenges you to try to light birthday candles in front of a fan – again with the help of an adult. Having trouble doing that?

“Similarly, if there is a lot of wind high in the atmosphere [that’s wind shear], it will not let the hurricane form,” Bob said.

🎨 Sept. 1 - Art Class: Make a hurricane at home!

Don't worry, this activity won't be as difficult as the tornado machine that AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck created in his basement at home (though that was pretty cool). All you need is a bowl of water, spoon and food coloring to see how a hurricane would look from outer space.

Have you ever noticed that when an ice skater pulls his/her arms in toward their chest, they will spin faster? That’s exactly what happens with a hurricane – the tighter the spiral, the stronger and more destructive a hurricane will get.

Thanks to Experiment Exchange for coming up with this fun activity!

🌎 Sept. 1 - History Class: Remembering Hurricane Katrina

While Hurricane Laura recently made news headlines, nearly every news station was covering Hurricane Katrina on this date in 2005. Katrina is blamed for more than 1,200 deaths and $125 billion in damages in August 2005 with the city of New Orleans hit particularly hard.

Let’s revisit this devastating hurricane by listening to the AccuWeather This Date in Weather History podcast:

Did you know September 10 is the peak of hurricane season for the Atlantic Ocean? This time of year is when the ocean water temperatures are at their warmest – and warm water is the main fuel for hurricanes.