June 22, 2009: Snow Rollers

xoxoxoBruce · 06-22-2009, 12:18 AM

They look a little like snow covered hay rolls, but they are not.

Quote:

On the evening of March 31st, 2009, Tim Tevebaugh was driving home from work east of Craigmont in the southern Idaho Panhandle. Across the rolling hay fields, Tim saw a very unusual phenomenon. The snow rollers that he took pictures of are extremely rare because of the unique combination of snow, wind, temperature and moisture needed to create them. They form with light but sticky snow and strong (but not too strong) winds. These snow rollers formed during the day as they weren’t present in the morning on Tim’s drive to work.

Quote:

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 too fast.
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.
Because of this last condition, snow rollers are more common in hilly areas. However, the precise nature of the conditions required makes them a very rare phenomenon.

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ZenGum · 06-22-2009, 12:30 AM

Basically, cylindrical snowballs, right?

Wow. I love it when freaky stuff happens.

SPUCK · 06-22-2009, 06:01 AM

Those pictures are from a mile away and they're sixty five feet high. If you look closely you can see cows and sheep embedded in them.

xoxoxoBruce · 06-22-2009, 06:46 AM

Most of them are 18 inches to two feet in diameter.

spudcon · 06-22-2009, 07:03 AM

Those are small cows and sheep that I see embedded in them.

capnhowdy · 06-22-2009, 08:27 AM

Makes me want to be there instead of in this 100+ degree hell we're in down here. Looks refreshing.

classicman · 06-22-2009, 08:36 AM

Mother Nature is so amazing - Thanks Bruce, another great find.

Clodfobble · 06-22-2009, 09:03 AM

Katamari Damacy!

Shawnee123 · 06-22-2009, 11:43 AM

Very cool. Reminds me of that rolled up hay or straw or whatever it is...when I worked at the produce farm in the market some guy asked me how much one of those rolls weighed. I'm like "how the hell should I know?" No, not really, I only thought that.

xoxoxoBruce · 06-22-2009, 12:20 PM

A 5 ft hay roll should weigh about 1,000 lbs.

Shawnee123 · 06-22-2009, 12:28 PM

Dang. Wish the Cellar had existed in 1981, or at the very least that I knew Bruce.

That's funny, though, I might have told the guy, these days "I don't know, I'll google it later."

Brianna · 06-22-2009, 01:33 PM

How come so many weird things happen in Idaho?

Hemingway, separatists, my own private...now this.

Makes you think.

dar512 · 06-22-2009, 03:34 PM

Apologies to Bri and Hemingway, but snow rollers happen in lots of places.

Gravdigr · 06-22-2009, 04:25 PM

Here in KY, we don't roll our snow. We roll our dope, though, we've been known to do that on occasion. Our snow, now, we line that up in big fat slobberknockers on a large mirr---oh, wait, wait, nevermind.

capnhowdy · 06-22-2009, 06:49 PM

I wish we could get enough snow to roll down here. It's once in a blue moon.

06-22-2009, 12:30 AM	#2
ZenGum Is a dinosaur from space Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 5,920	Basically, cylindrical snowballs, right? Wow. I love it when freaky stuff happens. __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

06-22-2009, 06:46 AM	#4
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 34,002	Most of them are 18 inches to two feet in diameter. __________________ You can't steer threads, you can only watch them drift.

06-22-2009, 07:03 AM	#5
spudcon Beware of potatoes Join Date: May 2007 Location: Upstate NY, USA Posts: 1,376	Those are small cows and sheep that I see embedded in them. Attached Images __________________ Keep your corvines in the corbels. Last edited by spudcon; 06-22-2009 at 07:18 AM. Reason: add pics

06-22-2009, 08:27 AM	#6
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 5,857	Makes me want to be there instead of in this 100+ degree hell we're in down here. Looks refreshing. __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please.

06-22-2009, 08:36 AM	#7
classicman classhole Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 11,226	Mother Nature is so amazing - Thanks Bruce, another great find. __________________ ""Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! It is a dangerous servant and a terrible master."George Washington "Most bad government results from too much government."Thomas Jefferson "My views aren't popular, they're just mine."

06-22-2009, 06:01 AM	#3
SPUCK Lecturer Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 831	Those pictures are from a mile away and they're sixty five feet high. If you look closely you can see cows and sheep embedded in them.

06-22-2009, 09:03 AM	#8
Clodfobble Overcredulous Awkward Squad Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 9,260	Katamari Damacy! __________________ My cooking blog

06-22-2009, 11:43 AM	#9
Shawnee123 It's funny 'cause it's true! Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 16,578	Very cool. Reminds me of that rolled up hay or straw or whatever it is...when I worked at the produce farm in the market some guy asked me how much one of those rolls weighed. I'm like "how the hell should I know?" No, not really, I only thought that. __________________ A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity. Baltasar Gracian A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood. William Shenstone If you're ugly, stupid, dishonest, and lack social skills, the least you could do is pretend to be nice so as not to completely make others ill. Priscilla Radling

06-22-2009, 12:20 PM	#10
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 34,002	A 5 ft hay roll should weigh about 1,000 lbs. __________________ You can't steer threads, you can only watch them drift.

06-22-2009, 12:28 PM	#11
Shawnee123 It's funny 'cause it's true! Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 16,578	Dang. Wish the Cellar had existed in 1981, or at the very least that I knew Bruce. That's funny, though, I might have told the guy, these days "I don't know, I'll google it later." __________________ A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity. Baltasar Gracian A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood. William Shenstone If you're ugly, stupid, dishonest, and lack social skills, the least you could do is pretend to be nice so as not to completely make others ill. Priscilla Radling

06-22-2009, 01:33 PM	#12
Brianna Out Of My Way! I'm a Keats Scholar! Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 10,645	How come so many weird things happen in Idaho? Hemingway, separatists, my own private...now this. Makes you think. __________________ If we can hit that bullseye then the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...

06-22-2009, 03:34 PM	#13
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,966	Apologies to Bri and Hemingway, but snow rollers happen in lots of places. __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

06-22-2009, 04:25 PM	#14
Gravdigr Professor Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: South Central...KY that is Posts: 1,185	Here in KY, we don't roll our snow. We roll our dope, though, we've been known to do that on occasion. Our snow, now, we line that up in big fat slobberknockers on a large mirr---oh, wait, wait, nevermind. __________________ Roamer, wanderer, nomad, vagabond, call me what you will.

06-22-2009, 06:49 PM	#15
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 5,857	I wish we could get enough snow to roll down here. It's once in a blue moon. __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please.

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