January 19, 2023 – Okotoks, Alberta
I need your help solving a mystery – there are prizes.
I was in Okotoks early this morning to pick up a couple of items. The store I was visiting didn’t open until 9:00am, so I took a short walk.
As I strolled down the sidewalk, I noticed this odd frost pattern.
Every second or third section of the sidewalk was covered in frost, the rest were bare. Some of the frosty blocks were in front of doorways, others were not.
The temperature this morning was hovering around 0°C.
There is a chance that the strip mall has heated sidewalk sections, but the frost-free blocks are random in relation to store entrances. There is no evidence of shovelling or salt. The street-side half of the sidewalk was clear.
I can’t come up with an explanation for this phenomenon, but I hope that you will.
The first five most plausible answers will receive a downloaded image of the album cover for The Beatles …
… Abbey Road.
Tyler
Aliens, its gotta be, that or a wizard did it.
Russ
Okotoks is known for wizards and aliens, particularly on the north side! https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/10/15/1413387743346/Beatles-album-cover-014.jpg?width=700&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=9fb07ecff8ac50038c28f89456aecacb.
Karen Richmond
There appears to be doors opening onto the concrete blocks where the frost occurs At least for the majority of the concrete blocks. Is it possible the humidity and/or heat from the doors opening causes enough heat to cause the frost to settle into the concrete? Wild guess on my part
Russ
A “wild guess” is a plausible theory in my world.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctvnews.ca%2Fentertainment%2Fthe-beatles-abbey-road-album-cover-still-iconic-50-years-later-1.4541118%3Fcache%3Dyes&psig=AOvVaw03Qo3p45conJFulbI1p5E3&ust=1674247259886000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCLDDxJu_1PwCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE