Interesting Photo of the Day: A Frozen Tree

In meteorology, the phenomenon of “hard rime” occurs when sub-zero temperatures, heavy fog and gentle winds combine in the winter. It’s rare that such heavy fog would drift down to street level—it’s usually a mountain-ridge phenomenon—but the proof is right here, in this snapshot, which may look like a miniature model but is in fact one of the finest examples of the frozen phenomenon that even meteorologists have seen:

(Via Imgur. Click image to see full size.)

BlackMetalBanjo explains how he caught the image: he rolled down the window of his pickup truck and snapped it with his Galaxy Note 4 smartphone in Weld County, Colorado. The lighting is exclusively from a streetlamp off to the side of the frame. Really, it was that simple.

He also posted a follow-up of the tree one week later, to show what a difference time can make:

(Via Imgur. Click image to see full size.)

Still, people have been so confounded by the shot that they’re insisting it’s fake, or a miniature model. Banjo, however, is defending against these claims on Reddit:

“I’ve had a lot of people tell me it’s fake, shopped, etc. It wasn’t. It’s been super foggy in Colorado the last few days and it’s made some awesome frosty coverings on everything. I thought it was a nice scene so I rolled my window down and took a picture.”