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Snow Rollers: Rare & Beautiful Phenomenon

rynner2

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This is new to me:

The amazing self-rolling 'snow bales' that show Mother Nature also likes to play
By Julian Gavaghan
Last updated at 9:12 PM on 17th April 2009

To some they are evidence of alien activity and to others proof that Mother Nature has a sense of humour.
But one thing is certain: these snow rollers seen on the prairies of southern Idaho are not man-made.
Firefighter Tim Tevebaugh was lucky enough to spot a field full of them while on his way home from work in the evening.

‘I hadn’t seen them on my morning drive, so they must have formed in the space of a few hours,’ said Mr Tevebaugh, who witnessed the scene eight miles east of Craigmont.
Each frozen hay bale-like formation was up to about 2ft high and not a single footprint could be seen surrounding them.

But despite claims of alien interference, snow rollers are understood by experts to be an extremely rare naturally occurring phenomenon.
They require just the right combination of temperature, humidity, wind speed, terrain and of course, snow.

The formation can only be created on flat or slightly rolling open ground that is covered with a smooth layer of ice or crusty snow.
Then, for the rollers to form, more snow should fall or drift on to the land The air temperature should remain at or slightly above freezing, from 0C to 1C.
Finally, they need a sustained spell of strong, gusty winds, at least 25mph, to form.
A gust of wind then scoops up a chunk of snow and rolls it a bit.
The new, wet snow clings together, while the icy surface below allows the chunk of snow to slide and roll easily.

Repeated gusts will move the new snowball again and again, allowing it to pick up more snow with each roll.
Eventually, it will either become too heavy for the wind to move, or it will encounter an obstacle such as vegetation or a slight rise in the terrain, at which point the snow roller will stop moving, leaving a trail behind it to mark its journey.

Given the precise set of conditions required, it’s easy to see why people rarely spot snow rollers.
In fact, many professional meteorologists have never seen one.
And not only do they form infrequently, they're pretty fragile. If the temperature should fall or rise, they’ll collapse.

Like the Idaho ones pictured at the end of last month, most snow rollers are believed to form on the plains of North America where the weather can change abruptly due to competing masses of cold and dry Arctic air and warmer, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... -play.html
 
Rare self-rolling giant snow balls found in UK
They may look like winter's answer to crop circles, but these mysterious snow rolls are in fact a rare natural phenomenon usually found only in the world's most remote and frozen regions.
By Heidi Blake
Published: 9:45PM GMT 08 Jan 2010

Also known as snowrollers, snow bales and snow doughnuts, they form mostly in unusual conditions created by a precise combination of snow, ice, wind, temperature and moisture on the prairies of North America.

But this week's frozen weather has allowed the snow cylinders to make a freak appearance in the UK.

Ron Trevett, 55, and his wife Aileen, 54, readers of The Daily Telegraph, were stunned when they stumbled across the mysterious formations as they walked their dogs in a field near their home in Yeovil, Somerset.

"We saw them from a distance on the ridge of the field, and we thought some kids had been playing up there and making giant snowballs," said Mr Trevett.

"But when we got up there we saw there were no footprints and there were hundreds of them – too many for children to have done it. We realised it must have been the wind."

Mr Trevett, a builder, said he and his wife felt privileged to have witnessed such a rare phenomenon. "We feel very lucky. I'm the wrong side of fifty and I've never seen anything like it in my life. We were gobsmacked to look at them there in the sunlight. It was a really impressive sight, and I took some pictures so other people could share it," he said.

Frank Barrow, a lecturer in meteorology at the Met Office, said the rolls can only form in a precise set of unusual conditions.

"They start off with nice thick layer of snow, with the top snow just on the point of melting either because of general temperature or sunshine on the surface," he said.

"The top snow layer becomes a bit sticky, and you then need a fairly strong wind. The sticky layer can be peeled off the colder and more powdery snow underneath by the wind forming a roll. In the first picture you can see some of the powdery stuff sticking to the lower outside surface of the roll. I suppose it is a natural version of making a snowman."

After being formed, the rolls eventually become too large and heavy for the wind to move, or are halted by rising ground or a tuft of vegetation.

They are often hollow because the weak inner layers which form first can easily be blown away, and the fragile formations can collapse in the slightest change of temperature or gust of wind.

Liz Bentley, of the Royal Meteorological Society, said despite their rarity in the UK, there is a chance of more snow rolls appearing over the next few days.

"These rolls are unusual here because we don't tend to have major snow events like the one we're experiencing now. They happen with the combination of lying snow and high wind speeds, mostly in North America and Northern Europe, and they can be as small as a tennis ball or they can be as large as two feet across – depending on how strong the wind is and how smooth the surface of the snow is," she said.

"There are quite strong winds predicted this weekend as well as more snow, so if people keep a look out they might see a few more of these appearing around the country over the next few days."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weath ... in-UK.html
 
http://yr.no/artikkel/snoballen-rullet-seg-selv-1.12789454

(falteringly-translated from the Norwegian by Google Chrome)

Snowballed itself
On a field in Snåsa surfaced this snowball up - without anyone really had made it.
0GxeLFfsnaGQQdcYa_QviADJ8tAEgcYi9DAbRw5N2XKA

Where does it? - This has æ not seen before, writes Monika Stokke from Snåsa, adding that it was not an only footprints in the snow.

PHOTO: MONIKA STOKKE
Journalist Astrid Rommetveit 5 Feb 2016

Extreme Weather Tor had calmed down and at noon on Saturday 30 January went Monika and Ingvar Stokke from Snåsa in Nord-Trondelag traveling in the car. In a field they saw a big snowball, - maybe it had already been a child and played in snow?

xemuqMzRLkSo1Zk9a4VSoAz8KmnGnrzsHYokaMm1ChqA

Monika and Ingvar Stokke had never seen such snowballs - before they appeared outside their house.
- No, there was not a single track in the snow.That was what was so weird, says Monika.

When they looked up, it was a fascinating sight that met them.

- The entire field was full of balls. During a stretch of six kilometers we saw them many places, says Monika and says that the biggest snowballs had a diameter of 15-20 centimeters.

- E'n Tor as layers derre y'know
Monika posted the picture on Yr their facebook page and soon received a reply from several in the same area.

2klmZi6iwM4E1QFJY5FxhwXlTMzTJGM8XBEWExptHDng

SEEN IT BEFORE: A few years ago was Mjøsa covered by such snowballs, says TV weatherman John Smit.

PHOTO: KALAND, OLE / OLE KALAND BROADCASTING CORPORATION
- Yes it's full too of them everywhere.

- E'n Tor as layers derre y'know.

TV meteorologist John Smit is also kept "on the ball".

- This is a great picture of vindrullede snowballs, he says and adds that it is a bit unusual sight.

- Snowballs formed when strong wind takes hold in wet and a little loose powder on and dislodges a small lump of snow from the surface. Then rolls the wind further over the slushy snow surface, and the snowball grows until it becomes too heavy to allow the wind to drop further.

It needs lots of power to create as big snowballs that the Monika has captured. Windreadings show that extreme weather Tor gave gale around Snåsa, but also that the gusts were significantly higher (26.6 m / sec).

Have you seen anything like this?
Now regrets Monika Stokke that she did not take more pictures to show the extent of it all.

- How do you explain that? It's hopeless. It's easier with pictures.

But perhaps some of Yr its readers seen anything like it? Please share with us on our facebook page, on Instagram #YRno or uploadyr.no/bilder .
 
Pretty sure we've had reports of this on here before. Maybe in Weird Weather?
Don't have time to search now.
 
I searched for 'snowballs' on the board before posting, but could find nothing like this. Most references seem to be regarding the comet/interplanetary variety, or metaphorical ones.
 
I searched for 'snowballs' on the board before posting, but could find nothing like this.
Here we go!

The amazing self-rolling 'snow bales' that show Mother Nature also likes to play
By Julian Gavaghan
Last updated at 9:12 PM on 17th April 2009
...
http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/weird-weather.16462/page-9#post-870392

and...

Rare self-rolling giant snow balls found in UK
They may look like winter's answer to crop circles, but these mysterious snow rolls are in fact a rare natural phenomenon usually found only in the world's most remote and frozen regions.
By Heidi Blake
Published: 9:45PM GMT 08 Jan 2010
...
http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/weird-weather.16462/page-11#post-941434

(I found these not by ploughing through the whole weird weather thread, but by searching on 'snow rolls'. And the reason I was sure we had something on these was because I posted both of those stories, but I didn't realise that until I found them! It's reassuring to know that the Alzheimers hasn't kicked in yet!)
 
http://yr.no/artikkel/snoballen-rullet-seg-selv-1.12789454

(falteringly-translated from the Norwegian by Google Chrome)

Snowballed itself
On a field in Snåsa surfaced this snowball up - without anyone really had made it.
0GxeLFfsnaGQQdcYa_QviADJ8tAEgcYi9DAbRw5N2XKA

Where does it? - This has æ not seen before, writes Monika Stokke from Snåsa, adding that it was not an only footprints in the snow.

PHOTO: MONIKA STOKKE
Journalist Astrid Rommetveit 5 Feb 2016

Extreme Weather Tor had calmed down and at noon on Saturday 30 January went Monika and Ingvar Stokke from Snåsa in Nord-Trondelag traveling in the car. In a field they saw a big snowball, - maybe it had already been a child and played in snow?

xemuqMzRLkSo1Zk9a4VSoAz8KmnGnrzsHYokaMm1ChqA

Monika and Ingvar Stokke had never seen such snowballs - before they appeared outside their house.
- No, there was not a single track in the snow.That was what was so weird, says Monika.

When they looked up, it was a fascinating sight that met them.

- The entire field was full of balls. During a stretch of six kilometers we saw them many places, says Monika and says that the biggest snowballs had a diameter of 15-20 centimeters.

- E'n Tor as layers derre y'know
Monika posted the picture on Yr their facebook page and soon received a reply from several in the same area.

2klmZi6iwM4E1QFJY5FxhwXlTMzTJGM8XBEWExptHDng

SEEN IT BEFORE: A few years ago was Mjøsa covered by such snowballs, says TV weatherman John Smit.

PHOTO: KALAND, OLE / OLE KALAND BROADCASTING CORPORATION
- Yes it's full too of them everywhere.

- E'n Tor as layers derre y'know.

TV meteorologist John Smit is also kept "on the ball".

- This is a great picture of vindrullede snowballs, he says and adds that it is a bit unusual sight.

- Snowballs formed when strong wind takes hold in wet and a little loose powder on and dislodges a small lump of snow from the surface. Then rolls the wind further over the slushy snow surface, and the snowball grows until it becomes too heavy to allow the wind to drop further.

It needs lots of power to create as big snowballs that the Monika has captured. Windreadings show that extreme weather Tor gave gale around Snåsa, but also that the gusts were significantly higher (26.6 m / sec).

Have you seen anything like this?
Now regrets Monika Stokke that she did not take more pictures to show the extent of it all.

- How do you explain that? It's hopeless. It's easier with pictures.

But perhaps some of Yr its readers seen anything like it? Please share with us on our facebook page, on Instagram #YRno or uploadyr.no/bilder .
Sou
http://yr.no/artikkel/snoballen-rullet-seg-selv-1.12789454

(falteringly-translated from the Norwegian by Google Chrome)

Snowballed itself
On a field in Snåsa surfaced this snowball up - without anyone really had made it.
0GxeLFfsnaGQQdcYa_QviADJ8tAEgcYi9DAbRw5N2XKA

Where does it? - This has æ not seen before, writes Monika Stokke from Snåsa, adding that it was not an only footprints in the snow.

PHOTO: MONIKA STOKKE
Journalist Astrid Rommetveit 5 Feb 2016

Extreme Weather Tor had calmed down and at noon on Saturday 30 January went Monika and Ingvar Stokke from Snåsa in Nord-Trondelag traveling in the car. In a field they saw a big snowball, - maybe it had already been a child and played in snow?

xemuqMzRLkSo1Zk9a4VSoAz8KmnGnrzsHYokaMm1ChqA

Monika and Ingvar Stokke had never seen such snowballs - before they appeared outside their house.
- No, there was not a single track in the snow.That was what was so weird, says Monika.

When they looked up, it was a fascinating sight that met them.

- The entire field was full of balls. During a stretch of six kilometers we saw them many places, says Monika and says that the biggest snowballs had a diameter of 15-20 centimeters.

- E'n Tor as layers derre y'know
Monika posted the picture on Yr their facebook page and soon received a reply from several in the same area.

2klmZi6iwM4E1QFJY5FxhwXlTMzTJGM8XBEWExptHDng

SEEN IT BEFORE: A few years ago was Mjøsa covered by such snowballs, says TV weatherman John Smit.

PHOTO: KALAND, OLE / OLE KALAND BROADCASTING CORPORATION
- Yes it's full too of them everywhere.

- E'n Tor as layers derre y'know.

TV meteorologist John Smit is also kept "on the ball".

- This is a great picture of vindrullede snowballs, he says and adds that it is a bit unusual sight.

- Snowballs formed when strong wind takes hold in wet and a little loose powder on and dislodges a small lump of snow from the surface. Then rolls the wind further over the slushy snow surface, and the snowball grows until it becomes too heavy to allow the wind to drop further.

It needs lots of power to create as big snowballs that the Monika has captured. Windreadings show that extreme weather Tor gave gale around Snåsa, but also that the gusts were significantly higher (26.6 m / sec).

Have you seen anything like this?
Now regrets Monika Stokke that she did not take more pictures to show the extent of it all.

- How do you explain that? It's hopeless. It's easier with pictures.

But perhaps some of Yr its readers seen anything like it? Please share with us on our facebook page, on Instagram #YRno or uploadyr.no/bilder .
Sounds like a fair explanation...s'no bollocks!
 
Rare snow rollers spotted in Scottish field as strange weather phenomenon stuns dog walkers
The natural sculptures roll up in the style of a tumbleweed or a hay bale and leave a trail behind them showing how they were made.

  • SCOTLAND NOW
    JS141137457.jpg

    Snow rollers have been spotted in a Scottish field (Image: SWNS)
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    These fascinating pictures show hundreds of snow rollers - a strange and rare weather phenomenon consisting of naturally-made snowballs.

    The natural sculptures roll up in the style of a tumbleweed or a hay bale and leave a trail behind them showing how they were made.

    They are delicate and crumble completely at the slightest touch.

    Snow rollers can only be formed when the snow is cold but not frozen and the wind is strong enough to move snow but not break it.

  • etc

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotland-now/rare-snow-rollers-spotted-scottish-11872582
 
It'd be fascinating to see one of those things being formed.

Rare snow rollers spotted in field near Marlborough
  • 2 hours ago
_105461923_snow6.jpg
Image copyrightBRIAN BAYLISSImage captionBrian Bayliss said he spotted the snow rollers as the sun rose on Saturday - but added by later that day they had collapsed
A rare natural phenomenon which makes it look like wheels of snow have been rolled on their own has been captured in photos.
Six rare "snow rollers" were spotted by Brian Bayliss in Wiltshire.
He said he spotted them in a field he owns and at first thought they had been manmade but there were no footprints.
It is thought the bales are formed when wind conditions are ideal to blow chunks of snow along, picking up more snow along the way.

etc

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-47108382
 
Please (someone :) ) explain the regular corrugations? in terms of teh mechanics of the thing
 
i imagine its moving inch by inch ...
Yes, I should imagine it's moving in increments. It's possible that nobody has seen it actually rolling along.
 
Yes, I should imagine it's moving in increments. It's possible that nobody has seen it actually rolling along.

That's because it was done by aliens. Wrong time of year for crop circles so they have to do something to pass the time.
 
Here's a recent summary about how snow rollers and how they form ...
The Science Behind Snow Rollers, Ice Circles and Other Winter Phenomena ...

Snow Rollers

Similar in appearance to what it looks like when you drag an ice cream scoop through a carton of the good stuff, snow rollers occur in open prairies or hilly areas free of obtrusions (think boulders and trees). They are the combination of two different layers of snow, the first being an existing sheet that has crusted over and the second a fresh layer of fallen snow. “It’s kind of like snow falling on top of an ice rink, which doesn’t quite stick to what’s below it,” Jackson says. “Then some sort of perturbation happens, such as snow falling off of a tree or the wind itself begins blowing some of the snow, which is sticky enough that as it moves it grabs on to what it’s touching.” As the formation moves, it continues growing, especially if it’s windy and there’s enough gravity to keep it rolling down a hill. However, Jackson warns that conditions need to be practically perfect for snow rollers to form. “It can’t be too windy or else it will blow apart,” he says. “Typically 30 miles per hour is the sweet spot depending on how deep and aggressive the snow is.”

Where to see snow rollers right now: This month, a number of snow rollers have been spotted resting on top of frozen Lake Vermilion in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. In the past, these large snowballs have formed throughout Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado; Ottawa, Canada; and other points north.
FULL STORY: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/trav...ice-circles-other-winter-phenomena-180973946/
 
This December 2020 Science Alert article discusses snow rollers and provides some additional photos of these remarkable snow-wheels ...
Meet Nature's Wondrous, Self-Rolling Snow Doughnuts

Found mostly in the open prairies of North America and some remote regions of Northern Europe, snow doughnuts or snow rollers might look like icy man-made structures, but these tire-shaped curiosities are entirely natural.

They're very rarely seen because the number of weather conditions that need to be just right for them to form – including wind, temperature, snow, ice, and moisture – is pretty astonishing. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/meet-nature-s-bizarre-self-rolling-snow-doughnuts
 
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