Snow rollers
April 13, 2009 5:47 PM Subscribe
Gorgeous pictures of snow rollers.
Snow rollers! Who knew that such a thing existed? The world is an amazing place.
Snow rollers! Who knew that such a thing existed? The world is an amazing place.
Whoa.
Reminds me of a friend who was driving through the west when a tumbleweed blew across the road in front of his car. He jumps out, planning on putting it in the back of his SUV for the ride back east. Email sent to those of us back east: DAMN TUMBLEWEEDS ARE BIGGER THAN THEY LOOK.
posted by R. Mutt at 6:02 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
Reminds me of a friend who was driving through the west when a tumbleweed blew across the road in front of his car. He jumps out, planning on putting it in the back of his SUV for the ride back east. Email sent to those of us back east: DAMN TUMBLEWEEDS ARE BIGGER THAN THEY LOOK.
posted by R. Mutt at 6:02 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
Pshh, no way those are real. I don't see a hapless duck sticking out the top of even one of those.
But, seriously, I'm pretty happy that these are an actual thing.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 6:02 PM on April 13, 2009
But, seriously, I'm pretty happy that these are an actual thing.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 6:02 PM on April 13, 2009
So strange. They look exactly--in shape and distribution--like bales of hay arrayed in the fields.
posted by oneironaut at 6:03 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by oneironaut at 6:03 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
Wow. I didn't bother to scroll down on the first link, and skimmed the wiki page assuming it was a lot of froth and these were maybe just a couple inches in diameter. Sorry.
These are pretty cool.
posted by Science! at 6:03 PM on April 13, 2009
These are pretty cool.
posted by Science! at 6:03 PM on April 13, 2009
I think Andy Goldsworthy has a good chance of winning a copyright infringement suit against this "nature" fellow.
posted by fleetmouse at 6:09 PM on April 13, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by fleetmouse at 6:09 PM on April 13, 2009 [4 favorites]
Whoa, that's cool. What a planet we got here! Thanks!
posted by rtha at 6:14 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by rtha at 6:14 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
I saw some miniature versions of those on my walk to work the other day. Snow falls off a tree, rolls down a hill a bit, presto - snow marshmallows.
posted by oulipian at 6:19 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by oulipian at 6:19 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
Christo, here's a field of snow. Any ideas?
posted by davebush at 6:19 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by davebush at 6:19 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
Please list all other amazingly awesome natural phenomena that I've never heard of.
Hi :bats eyes:
posted by cashman at 6:25 PM on April 13, 2009 [3 favorites]
Hi :bats eyes:
posted by cashman at 6:25 PM on April 13, 2009 [3 favorites]
We have them in the Washington North Cascades too!
posted by in the methow at 6:30 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by in the methow at 6:30 PM on April 13, 2009
Please list all other amazingly awesome natural phenomena that I've never heard of.
Ice circles. YT. Previously.
posted by CKmtl at 6:33 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
Ice circles. YT. Previously.
posted by CKmtl at 6:33 PM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
yeah, well your mother was a snowblower!
oh, snow roller? cool.
posted by nadawi at 6:47 PM on April 13, 2009
oh, snow roller? cool.
posted by nadawi at 6:47 PM on April 13, 2009
Holy cow! I want high-res copies of these for backgrounds. Where I live we don't get snow nearly that great.
because we don't get snow :(
posted by fireoyster at 6:50 PM on April 13, 2009
because we don't get snow :(
posted by fireoyster at 6:50 PM on April 13, 2009
I've had these come rolling down across the runs when I was night-skiing before. One night there were so many it was difficult to avoid being hit on the narrowest part of the run.
posted by fshgrl at 7:32 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by fshgrl at 7:32 PM on April 13, 2009
I read this as "snow roller coasters" and was amazed by the work that went into such transient engineering. Consequently, I am probably the only person on the planet who was disappointed by the photographs.
"Oh, just a remarkable natural phenomenon? Who cares?"
posted by Pants! at 8:32 PM on April 13, 2009 [3 favorites]
"Oh, just a remarkable natural phenomenon? Who cares?"
posted by Pants! at 8:32 PM on April 13, 2009 [3 favorites]
The sliding rocks freak me out. That's awesome.
The snow rollers I find fascinating, primarily because I grew up in a place with a fuckton of snow (seriously, this is my 5'9" father standing in front of his house yesterday, in mid-April, and that house is an hour further South than where I grew up, with commensurately less snow) and yet I've never seen them outside of the internet. I find it slightly hard to imagine there are snow related things I've never experienced, but I guess we just don't have enough flat open fields and wind to get these things.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:49 PM on April 13, 2009
The snow rollers I find fascinating, primarily because I grew up in a place with a fuckton of snow (seriously, this is my 5'9" father standing in front of his house yesterday, in mid-April, and that house is an hour further South than where I grew up, with commensurately less snow) and yet I've never seen them outside of the internet. I find it slightly hard to imagine there are snow related things I've never experienced, but I guess we just don't have enough flat open fields and wind to get these things.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:49 PM on April 13, 2009
jacquilynne, i think i takes a special ratio of snow to warmth to wind to create this level of fast moving, slow melting, quick freezing snow. i'm personally glad i don't have to deal with that kinda weather. and i live in massa-fucking-chusetts...
posted by es_de_bah at 9:43 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by es_de_bah at 9:43 PM on April 13, 2009
My brother had these where he lives in Indiana not too long ago. Pretty darned weird to wake up to, I understand. One thing that the first set of pictures doesn't really capture is that there can be a trail of completely bare ground behind, as the entire layer of snow is peeled away and rolled up like a blanket. So freakin' weird.
posted by madmethods at 10:11 PM on April 13, 2009
posted by madmethods at 10:11 PM on April 13, 2009
They look comical, as if God has a sense of wonder, delight and impish pranksterism.
"I'll just have the snow rolled into these shapes and let's see what they make of that!"
posted by gnuls at 4:20 AM on April 14, 2009
"I'll just have the snow rolled into these shapes and let's see what they make of that!"
posted by gnuls at 4:20 AM on April 14, 2009
At night, the moon cows come.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:47 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:47 AM on April 14, 2009
These are totally awesome.
posted by spinturtle at 5:50 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by spinturtle at 5:50 AM on April 14, 2009
Cool!
posted by marginaliana at 6:55 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by marginaliana at 6:55 AM on April 14, 2009
That's a really cool phenomenon that deserves someone with a better grasp on photography to document it.
posted by HumanComplex at 8:11 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by HumanComplex at 8:11 AM on April 14, 2009
I always thought these were manmade, like the rolls of hay you see in fields. Thanks for the enlightenment!
posted by Eideteker at 9:11 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by Eideteker at 9:11 AM on April 14, 2009
Those are neat, but before I clicked the link, I expected to see some of these.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:44 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:44 AM on April 14, 2009
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posted by HuronBob at 5:50 PM on April 13, 2009