Rare self-rolling snow balls found in UK

By T.K. Randall
January 9, 2010 · Comment icon

15 comments

Image Credit: NOAA

Large self-rolling snowballs are a phenomenon usually found in remote, frozen regions but now they are turning up in the UK.

In something akin to the crop circle phenomenon you might be forgiven for wondering what could possibly cause snowballs to form by themselves in snow-covered fields around Britain. The answer lies in a rare phenomenon in which a precise combination of conditions can cause cylindrical formations of snow or "self-rolling snowballs" to appear.

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.

Source: Telegraph | Comments (15)

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Recent comments on this story

#6 Posted by GhostWhisper 15 years ago

The kids love it and the adults (with commutes) loathe it.

#7 Posted by Piney 15 years ago

i see a few of these before in canada. I've seen them in Nebraska and the Dakotas. I just don't see how they're newsworthy. Lapiche

#8 Posted by Paracelse 15 years ago

I've seen them in Nebraska and the Dakotas. I just don't see how they're newsworthy. Lapiche That's the point exactly, they are common in the Dakotas Nebraska, and prolly Wyoming and Colorado but not in the UK... where everyone knows, it usually rains. :innocent:

#9 Posted by Father Of Evolution 15 years ago

Well that would be fun to watch, I wish snow falls here in my country _ its hard to be on the Equator you know lol... guess i have to wait 5000 years so that the plates can move north.. XD

#10 Posted by Solid Skeptic 15 years ago

Living on a farm in this weather is an absolute nightmare.

#11 Posted by Mac E 14 years ago

32 years in Minnesota and I still haven't seen these. That would be cool to see.

#12 Posted by Finity 14 years ago

I'm in the middle of Endland in the countryside, was snowed in most of christmas and last week. Still not melted yet and very icy I don't think they even grit the roads round here any more :/

#13 Posted by Moon Princess 14 years ago

*Pokes 'em* These are so cool! Awsome pictures too.

#14 Posted by Sthenno 14 years ago

Is it just me, or do they just look like hay rolls covered in snow? Still snowing here, and it's bringing out the best in people. Neighbours I've never spoken to are clubbing together to push cars out of the snow, and kids who would normally be throwing rocks at our windows are lending us their sledges. Long may it continue!

#15 Posted by CRX 14 years ago

32 years in Minnesota and I still haven't seen these. That would be cool to see. Yeah, me too! Well, almost really, I have seen a single snowroller only once in my 57 years in northern Saskatchewan, CANADA. I am watching out for some now and will sure have to videotape them for sure. Somewhere along the internet, it says you will get to see snowrollers only once in 100 years!

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