Snow rollers

[ArcticFox]

I've lived in snow country most of my life but I have never heard of these...

snowrollers

 

[ArcticFox]

I've lived in snow country most of my life but I have never heard of these...

snowrollers

 

[pred]

Aliens?
Like the crop circles?
I have never seen anything like it, I am wondering how much wind is needed to roll an 18" roll of snow?
Aliens?
Peter

 

[M28]

Never had'em around these parts until the whole global warming...er...I mean...climate change fiasco.

Brian~

 

[Class III]

Well, I once saw it snowing it's butt off, and there was not a cloud in the sky (ended up with over 10"). I also had a deer get in the boat with me while duck hunting (got pix of it if I can find them). But, I have never seen anything like that.

 

[Iggy]

I have seen those in Wyoming on a much smaller scale.. Wind blows chunks of snow loose and if things are just right the chunks roll along.

I never saw any more than 3 or 4" in diameter.

 

[Bob R]

You also get those in Montana every now and then. These ones are really wide, most of the ones I have seen are much narrower and look like a cinnamon bun on its side.

bob

 

[Wheelgunner840]

Well if that aint the darndest thing I ever did see! Weird.

WG840

 

[creedekid]

Winter tumbleweed.

 

[jkc]

Very interesting! I recently visited Death Valley National Park, where at a playa called "The Racetrack" rocks up to about breadbox size are apparently pushed along by the wind, when the fine clay silt that accumulates in the playa (dry lake) is wet and slick. It was extremely windy while we were there a few weeks ago, 50MPH and gusting higher, enough to push you off balance, and in one place, Ubehebe Crater, visitors were warned to set parking brakes to avoid having cars blown into others! The windblown rocks leave "skidmarks" or shallow furrows in the mud. These snow rollers are a similar phenomenon, evidently, and surprisingly not more common...

 

[sammi357]

Never seen that before!! how cool!

thank you for posting!

 

[rburg]

We had them here a few years ago. It made all the papers then. The explanation is it takes a certain set of conditions to take place. Temp and ground temps need to be just right, its got to snow like all hell to accumulate on the warmer ground, then the wind needs to pick up and blow real hard to get them rolling.

In 61 years, I've seen them once. But they're cool to look at.

 

[Forester]

Never seen those before. Very interesting.

Being from NH, from the thread title I thought you were talking about these:

 

[Stevens]

The horse drawn variety is what I was expecting when I read the title. The picures look almost like frozen mini round hay bales
Steve

 

[n4zov]

Well, you learn something new every day! Here's more info. and photos:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/events/roller/roller.php