Giant snowballs have formed on the beach of Golf of Ob in Siberia.
Giant Snowballs have been discovered to have formed in Siberia, on the beach of the Golf of Ob. This phenomenon has fascinated scientists and other people, which keep imaging a huge snowball fight, among giants as some measure up to three feet across.
Siberian locals from the village of Nyda have discovered the giant snowballs which formed naturally across the 11-mile long beach of the Golf of Ob. The phenomenon is gaining worldwide attention after the residents posted images with the giant snowballs on social media.
According to the village administrator, the perfectly round balls of ice and now have formed since October. The water from the gulf extended on to the land and covered the beach in a sheet of ice. After the water retreated, the ice mixed in with the wet sand and falling snow to form the giant snowballs.
The description of this process matches with what scientists discovered to be behind this somewhat strange phenomenon. A rare combination of factors such as sludge and slob ice, strong winds, the lay of the beach and coastline, and the temperature led to the formation of the snowballs in other parts of the world. When a thin sheet of ice forms and it is rolled by wind and water, collecting more snow, it will eventually form these balls of ice the size of basketballs or even larger.
The beach in Siberia met the previously mentioned conditions along with the record cold and level of snow in the region for this time of the year. A similar natural phenomenon previously occurred in Finland and in the US, on the shores of Lake Michigan in 2013, where locals found balls of ice weighing even more than 50 pounds.
Some meteorologists make use of the snow cover levels in Siberia in October to determine how various key weather patterns are likely to evolve during the upcoming winter. The current conditions in Siberia could lead to a strong, snowy winter in certain parts of the US, in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. Similar winter conditions might occur in Western Europe as well.
Have you ever seen this giant snowballs phenomenon before?
Image courtesy: Siberian Times/@atlasobscura/Twitter
Michael Turner
