Originally Posted by
nachosdelux
The plane gets cold-soaked at altitude, and picks up moisture on the descent. It freezes to the wings. Even though it is in the 50's on the ground, the ice/frost will not melt quickly, and must be removed prior to the next departure. Now you know.
Nah, I don't think so. So in 50 years of flying this has never happened to me, yet you describe it as a normal occurrence? I expect that the more likely explanation would be a one-off, and might include things like an inadvertent chemical/fluid/fuel spill on one of the wings, pilot noticed something when doing his/her walk-around, etc.