American Winter Freeze Results In Some Cool Natural Phenomena
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On Monday, January 27th, residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois woke up to a special treat - Giant snow rollers. Often described as nature's snow sculptures, the beautiful giant columns are a rare meteorological phenomenon.
Snow rollers are essentially snowballs, which are formed when large amounts of snow gets blown along the ground by wind. However, unlike normal snowballs, these are cylindrical in shape and mostly hollow in the middle. That is because the inner layer which is the first to form, is often very weak and thin and prone to blowing away, leaving behind a snow sculpture that resembles a Swiss roll or sometimes even a donut.
Last seen in this area about a decade ago, snow rollers only form under very special conditions. First, the ground has to be icy enough so that the snow does not stick to it. Then, the snow has to be wet and at a temperature that is close to its melting point. Also, in order for the rollers to form they have to be able gather more snow, which means that their life has to begin at the perfect incline so that the gravitational pull can help roll it down. Not only that, the wind conditions have to be just right. Strong winds can destroy the fragile structure, while weak ones will not provide them with the oomph they need. It is therefore not surprising that these nature's sculptures are rarely seen.
The snow rollers are not the only strange phenomenon caused by this year's severe winter. As the polar vortex loosened its frigid grip on the East Coast of the United States in early January, it left behind thousands of gigantic, spherical ice balls on the shores of Lake Michigan. The ice boulders were created when the weather warmed and melted the ice sheet covering the lake, resulting in large chunks, that got eroded by the waves and transformed into beautiful icy 'bowling' balls.
If that is not exciting enough, on January 4th, residents of many cities in Ontario, Canada were jolted awake in the middle of the night by several loud booms caused by a phenomenon called cryoseism.
Also known as 'frost quakes' they occur when temperatures drop so low that rain that has penetrated deep underground, freezes.
Since water expands when frozen, it puts pressure on the rocks that lie underneath. The stress continues to build until the rocks finally crack under the pressure, resulting in a slight shift in the ground and noises that are loud enough to rattle nerves.
Have you experienced any of these phenomena? If so be sure to share them with us, by adding you comments below.
Resources: news.yahoo.com,lancasteronline.com,livescience.com,csmoniter.com,dailymail.co.uk
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- P.A.Jover 10 yearsA. The conditions that have to be in place in order for snow rollers to form are icy grounds that won't let the snow stick. Also the snow has to be wet and at a temperature close to its melting point. In order for the rollers to form, they have to be able to gather more snow. B. The icy balls were created when the weather warmed, and melted the ice sheets covering the lake. C.Frost Quakes are also known as cryoseisms. They are non-tectonic events brought by winter weather. They are a loud noise.
- 11111111111Nameover 10 yearswow!!!
- R.A.J #5over 10 yearsA) (Amariah)It states in paragraph #3 in American WInter Freezes Results In Some Cool Natural Phenomena, the ground has to be icy so that the snow won’t stick then the snow has to be wet at a temperature that is almost melting next in order for the snow rollers to form they have to be able to gather more snow. after that, the wind conditions have to be just right. Strong winds can destroy the snow rollers structure, while weak ones will not provide them with what they need. B) (Rahul) It states in paragraph #4 in American WInter Freezes Results In Some Cool Natural Phenomena, that the sun melted the ice sheets on the ocean and that resulted in big chunks of ice and the water shaped the ice into a sphere shape. C) (Jordan) It states in paragraph #6 and #7 in American WInter Freezes Results In Some Cool Natural Phenomena, that “Frost Quakes are cryoseisms. Frost Quakes occur when temperatures drop so low, that rain that has penetrated deep underground, freezes. When the roks crack, since water expands when frozen, it makes the area shake. It shakes it so hard and so loud, that it can rattle a nerve.”
- DuNaveedamover 10 yearsA) The ground has to have ice on it so that the snow can slide on it. Then the snow has to be wet and thee temperature has to be around freezing point. Also the snow has to be on an incline.The wind conditions have to be just right so that the snow can slide of the the incline. B) The ice boulders were created when the temperature melted the ice sheet on Lake Michigan, resulting in large chunks that got eroded by the wave and transformed into ice balls.C) After freezing rain water seep into the bed rock and begins to freeze. As the moisture freezes it expands which puts pressure on the surrounding rock. The rocks eventually crack creating a large noise and occasionally shakes the ground.
- Team AV abd KPover 10 yearsA) the ground must be icey enogh so that the snow will not stick to the ground, temp must be at melting point, must be at an incline, and no strong winds B) clump of snow that covered the river and did not erode C) non tectonic events brought by winter weather.
- kzaTLC5over 10 yearsa) There has to be snowy conditions. But the snow has to be wet. The snow has to fall though at the perfect time so that the gravitational pull can be in affect. b)The weather warmed and the ice sheets that covered lake Michigan began to melt. The snow then was eroded by the waves of the lake and rolled it into perfect snowballs c) Frostquakes are whenever the water expands and freezes under the ground and then make a cracking noise as the ice breaks underneath the grounds surface.
- MargsKrbsHayover 10 yearsA) The ground has to be icy. The snow also has to be wet and close to melting point. They also have to be at a slant so that they can collect more snow as they roll down. B) The weather warmed and the ice melted that covered lake Michigan resulting in large chunks of ice. When the ice got eroded by the waves it turned into spherical chunks and washed up on the shore , causing icy balls. C) They are non-tectonic events brought by winter weather. They are usually identified by a loud noise in the night with no apparent cause.
- tamika over 10 yearsi want something fun and interesting tooooooooo!!!!!!! BORING
- tamikaover 10 yearswow i guess not what I thought I would be like
- Alexandraover 10 yearsSo awesome!!