Ice needles in the Sierra
By Bill Lindelof, Sacramento Bee
Winter is here, and so are ice needles in the Sierra Nevada, a frozen phenomenon.
Michael C. Brelle, a chemistry professor at Sierra College, discovered them on his property in Alta, elevation 3,700 feet, in 2014, his first winter in the rural community.
Each year around the winter solstice, Brelle observes ice needles all over his 9-acre property. The pushing-up of the ice needles from the ground this year followed, as it usually does, a good rain and then cold temperatures.
