Frost and Hail in SF on February 25th--But Not Quite Snow

On February 25th, we almost had snow in San Francisco, but not quite. We saw some flakes falling past the TV camera on Twin Peaks, not enough to make me want to run up there and look. I taught the next morning and when I got up there was a good frost in our back yard, and some hail embeded in it. I've seen hail here, and frost, but not both together.

Here are some beets. Very frozen, very dry surface, still in shade.Hail particles are frozen into the frosty surface.

This is a creeping campanula. Same thing, hail in the frost.

This is the windshield of my car. A good icing, with hail embedded and bunched up at the bottom. I started to scrape, using my little rubber scraper. It's great for raindrops, but not so much for ice, so I was glad to have a different car, one that had been indoors overnight, to load up and drive instead. But by the time my husband got up and read my note, the frost was gone from the outdoor car. Nope, he said, no frost at all.

At City College, I began final prep for teaching, but had to run out to the garden to grab a few shots. I love the look of a frosted cabbage plant. This one is 'January King', one of the most handsome varieties.

I love the way frost accents the edges of leaves.

Morning light on the frosted wood frame of a garden bed.The plants are borage.

Everything pictured here is fine now. No damage on these plants. The only damage I noticed at the college garden was to nasturtium. In my back garden, the shrub impatiens (Impatiens sodenii) are damaged--the young leaves are partially dead. I think I will just cut them back, since there are nice green leaves at the bases of the plants, protected by weeds and the uppper leaves from the falling cold air.