We have "snow rollers" in central OH

[Botany]

This is just a picture I got from the "internets."


A snow roller is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by wind, picking up material along the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made.

The following conditions are needed for snow rollers to form:

The ground must be covered by a layer of ice to which snow will not stick.

The layer of ice must be covered by wet, loose snow with a temperature near the melting point of ice.

The wind must be strong enough to move the snow rollers, but not strong enough to blow them apart.
Alternatively, gravity can move the snow rollers as when a snowball, such as those that will fall from a tree or cliff, lands on steep hill and begins to roll down the hill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_roller

[Control-Z]

1. Cool! (nt)

[elleng]

2. Like tumbleweeds!!!

[aikoaiko]

5. I love tumbleweeds.

I even love saying the word.

[Brother Buzz]

9. Or mysterious moving rocks

Nestled in a remote valley between the Cottonwood and Last Chance Ranges, the Racetrack is a place of stunning beauty and mystery. The Racetrack is a playa--a dry lakebed--best known for it’s strange moving rocks. Although no one has actually seen the rocks move, the long meandering tracks left behind in the mud surface of the playa attest to their activity.

[elleng]

10. I'd say weird!

[Brother Buzz]

13. I'd say cool!

[elleng]

14. That too!

[Brother Buzz]

15. And sad!

Mysterious rocks stolen from Death Valley National Park

May 30, 2013

Death Valley National Park officials are investigating the theft of several of the rocks that mysteriously roam across a remote ancient lake bed known as the Racetrack Playa.

Rocks of various sizes -- from baseball to basketball -- scoot across the 2.5-mile-long, oval-shaped mudflat on the north end of the park, leaving tracks that are straight, curved and even looped. Some tracks extend up to 600 feet.

Geologists theorize that the rocks slide after rain moistens the top few centimeters of the lake bed and a high wind pushes them around.

"We've had more instances of folks taking the rocks," Death Valley spokesman Terry Baldino said. "They don't seem to understand that outside of the Racetrack, these marvelous rocks have no value."

[barbtries]

11. totally what i thought of

having spent the vast majority of my life in a place where it just does not snow.

[City Lights]

18. That's the first thing that came to my mind! nt

[PotatoChip]

3. I've never seen or heard of snow rollers before.

-learn something new every day here.

Cool!

[immoderate]

7. Yeah! New to me too.

Sonofagun!

--imm

[Phentex]

4. Wait, that's not a bale of hay covered in snow?

You sure?

I would love to see snow. We've got an itty bitty chance soon.

[Botany]

8. temps for 1/28

-10 / -15 1 AM

-7 / -15 4 AM

-11 / -14 7 AM

-7 / -11 10 AM

4 / -8 1 PM

5 / -5 4 PM

0 / -7 7 PM

-2 / -8 10 PM

[Phentex]

12. Just about every day I check...

Fargo, Minneapolis and sometimes Winnipeg.

I can dream...

[meow2u3]

6. Looks as if the guy upstairs is having a little fun

trying to make snowballs. Turns out He needs a little help from human as to how to make'em right.

[bkanderson76]

16. Nature At its Finest...Ya Gotta love

it when mystery abounds.

[Enthusiast]

17. This proves that global warming is a hoax.

[tofuandbeer]

19. Interesting!

[wandy]

20. All things considered, that would be one scary thing to see heading south....

on the interstate, when you are heading north on the same road.

[riqster]

21. Here is a local news story:

http://www.nbc4i.com/story/24553947/ice-wind-snow-create-rare-snow-rollers?config=H264

[Holly_Hobby]

22. 53" of snow in NW Ohio this winter n/t

[countryjake]

23. Here's one with the sun in it...

WBNS-10TV ~ Chief Meteorologist Chris Bradley ~ Columbus, Ohio





Residents See Snow Rollers Form In Yards And Fields Across Area

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/01/27/snow-rollers-form-in-field-in-fairfield-county-ohio.html