Re: streaked windows and lights

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

At 06:29 PM 1/17/01 -0700, SSHS KPHOX wrote:
> I made a mess of my windshield this morning when the fluid was frozen and
> the wipers made a streaked smear before my very eyes. Oncoming cars and
> taillights ahead created a wonderful pattern of elongated "rays" that ran
> to the center of the arc. I tried to explain this phenomenon to myself but
> was never satisfied with my answer. I was thinking some kind of
> diffraction effect but can not put all together.

How about a plurality of cylindrical lenses?
Long skinny cylinders of ice laid down by notches in the wiper blades.

(I've seen windshields with scratches that produce the same effect.
 Long skinny cylinders of missing glass.....)