- Pogonip
Pogonip is a type of
fog consisting ofice crystals suspended in the air. The name "pogonip" is an English adaptation of theShoshone word meaning "cloud" ('payinappih') [MerriamWebster] . Pogonip only forms under the right conditions, thehumidity has to be near 100% as theair temperature drops to below 0°C, allowing ice crystals to form in the air. The ice crystals will then settle onto surfaces.A Pogonip is a very rarely occurring frozen fog composed of fine ice needles instead of water droplets that forms in the mountain valleys of the western United States during winter. Two reasons why it means White Death: 1. The pogonip fog is so thick you can't even see your hand. Go out in it and you'll be lost in seconds. If it lingers you'll die of starvation or exposure. 2. Breathing pogonip can damage your lungs thus the term "white death".Fact|date=September 2007In "
The Old Farmer's Almanac ," in the calendar for December, the phrase "Beware the Pogonip" regularly appears.In "Smoke Bellew "Jack London described Pogonip which happened to main characters, killing one of them.References
Pogonip: a Paiute word adapted into the English language in 1865; a dense winter fog containing frozen particles that if formed in deep mountain valleys in Western United States: source Webster's Dictionary, contributed to this page by F.Bryan According to Merriam Webster "the English-speaking settlers who encountered this unpleasant and sometimes scary phenomenon when they went out West in the 1800s needed a word for it. They borrowed 'payinappih' ('cloud') from Shoshone, altering it to 'pogonip.'"
ee also
*
Fog
*Weather
*Ice Crystals
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