Buzz
While some of us can't help but gripe about winter – its biting cold, the hazardous roads, and the endless hours spent indoors – it's no secret that summer takes all the praise. Though winter has its dangers, it also carries a certain eerie beauty.
Various forms of snow and ice blanket the world during this season, but some types are far stranger than others. From enigmatic ice balls washing up on a Siberian beach to icicles forming miles beneath the ocean's surface, these occurrences are anything but typical.
10. Light Pillars
Pale, pastel-colored columns of light that seem to float mysteriously above the ground have often been mistaken for UFOs. Those lucky enough to witness these on a frigid winter night are often left spellbound by their beauty, which could easily be mistaken for something extraterrestrial or from another realm. However, the science behind light pillars is far more grounded.
“Much like all halos, they’re simply beams of light reflected by millions of [ice] crystals, which just happen to be directing light toward your eyes or camera,” explains Les Cowley, a retired physicist and expert in atmospheric optics.
On especially cold, windless nights, flat ice crystals from high altitudes can descend closer to the earth, reflecting the glow of city streetlights and car headlights, creating the ethereal, alien-like appearance of light pillars. These pillars typically adopt the color of the light they reflect, which accounts for their rainbow-like hue.
Curiously, similar phenomena can occur when sunlight or moonlight reflects off ice crystals, resulting in the formation of sun and moon pillars.
9. Penitentes
These bizarre snow formations resemble dangerous spikes. Some can even grow taller than a person's shoulder – reaching heights of up to 6 meters (20 ft)! Without any other snow in sight, it can be quite startling to witness these sharp, claw-like blades rising from the ground like mysterious hooded figures.
Penitentes are created from compacted snow or ice at altitudes above 4,000 meters (13,000 ft). They are often found in shallow valleys where the snow accumulates most and where the Sun’s rays aren’t too intense.
Due to sublimation (the direct evaporation of snow without melting into liquid), the snow becomes uneven as some areas sublimate faster than others, resulting in deeper depressions. Over time, these depressions evolve into towering fields of icy spikes. Despite their delicate appearance, these formations are treacherous for mountain climbers.
8. Ice Balls
In 2016, a remote village in Siberia was taken aback by a strange collection of objects that seemed to have washed ashore from the farthest depths of the sea.
Spanning 18 kilometers (11 mi), massive ice balls of varying sizes, from as large as 1 meter (3 ft) in diameter to as small as tennis balls, blanketed the shore of the Gulf of Ob. It felt as though nature itself was gearing up for a massive snowball fight. Even the village elders were perplexed by this mysterious phenomenon.
Commonly referred to as ice boulders, ice balls are formed from frazil ice (a slushy blend of ice crystals and water). Rough waters and strong winds tumble the ice repeatedly, shaping the balls into their round form, which can take on a tan hue due to the presence of sand.
When the waves are calmer, the ice takes on a more flattened, pancake-like shape. Sadly, with a weight of up to 23 kilograms (50 lb), these solid ice balls wouldn’t make for a very fun snowball fight.
7. Ice Volcanoes
We all know about volcanoes – towering, awe-inspiring natural wonders that unleash molten lava and toxic gases. However, there’s a fascinating variation: a type of volcano that erupts frozen ice.
Ice volcanoes (also known as cryovolcanoes) resemble their fiery counterparts in that pressure builds up beneath the surface, leading to eruptions that can be either explosive or flow smoothly. Instead of molten rock, though, these eruptions expel frozen gases such as water, ammonia, or methane.
The discovery of these volcanoes on Pluto in 2016 caused a stir, though they were first observed in 1989 on Triton, Neptune’s largest moon.
Cryovolcanoes can grow to tremendous sizes. One of the largest, Pluto's Wright Mons, towers at an impressive 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) high and stretches over 145 kilometers (90 mi) in length.
6. Thundersnow
A truly awe-inspiring term, thundersnow is exactly what it sounds like – a rare phenomenon where thunder and lightning occur during a snowstorm. The conditions have to align perfectly for this to happen: it must still be cold enough for snow, but the air near the ground has to be warmer than the layers above.
Much like a thunderstorm, warm, moist air rises to create unstable air columns that condense into clouds. When snowstorm clouds develop bumps known as turrets, it signals unstable air currents that cause precipitation like snow and hail.
As the particles within these clouds collide, electrical charges accumulate and discharge as lightning. Unfortunately, even if you're in the right location for this rare weather event, all you may witness is a brief flash of light followed by the distant rumble of thunder.
5. Pancake Ice
Odd, frozen lily pads scatter across the river, covering the water with large circles reaching up to 3 meters (10 ft) in diameter. These ice discs resemble strange Frisbees or pizzas, yet they can be as thick as 10 centimeters (4 in).
When slush forms on the surface of calm water during freezing temperatures, the ice slabs collide or splash against one another, creating round shapes with raised edges. In more turbulent waters, these slabs of pancake ice are forced over each other and eventually freeze into a solid ice sheet.
These ice formations are both captivating and eerie to witness. While they are most commonly seen in Antarctica, they can appear anywhere under the right conditions.
4. Hoarfrost
The Old English definition of 'hoarfrost' evokes the image of 'white feathers of frost resembling an old man’s beard.' On chilly days, this feathery frost can be seen blanketing trees, leaves, and shrubs, creating the perfect winter wonderland.
Hoarfrost forms much like dew. When water vapor meets a cold surface, such as a blade of grass, and the temperature drops below freezing, deposition happens. Deposition is when a gas turns directly into a solid, resulting in delicate ice crystals that cover the surface. The more moisture in the air, the thicker the frost becomes, with increasingly intricate patterns forming.
3. Icicles Of Death
Forget about icicles. Brinicles form on the ocean floor and are just as deadly as they are mesmerizing. In the cold reaches of the Arctic and Antarctica, sea ice forms and leaks salt, which increases the salinity of the water and lowers its freezing point.
As the density of the water increases, the salty brine is unable to turn into ice and sinks to the much warmer depths of the ocean. This causes the surrounding water to freeze, forming a brinicle. When this massive blue tentacle plunges toward the seafloor, it creates a patch of ice that instantly freezes (and kills) anything it comes into contact with.
“They resemble upside-down cacti made of blown glass, almost like something out of Dr. Seuss’s world. They’re incredibly fragile and can shatter with even the gentlest touch,” says Andrew Thurber, a professor at Oregon State University.
However, these deadly structures may hold the keys to unlocking the secrets of life itself.
Bruno Escribano, a researcher at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics, explains, “[Inside the sea ice], there is a high concentration of chemical compounds and lipids, fats that coat the inside of the compartment. These can act as a primitive membrane—one of the essential ingredients for life.”
These elements might also hold the key components necessary for the creation of DNA.
2. Skypunch
It appears as though an enormous hand has come from the sky, ripping a chunk out of the clouds and leaving a massive hole in the heavens. Could it be the work of God? Aliens? Or is it just a strange formation in the clouds?
Skypunches (or fallstreak holes) occur when the conditions are just right. The water droplets in the clouds must be below freezing but not cold enough to form snow. Rather than freezing, these droplets remain in liquid form as supercooled water.
Eventually, some of these droplets freeze, initiating a chain reaction where the remaining vapor also turns to ice. The vapor that does not freeze simply evaporates, leaving behind a hole in the cloud.
Studies have shown that the freezing process is triggered by passing aircraft. As planes move through the cloud, the air cools around their wings and propellers, creating conditions that cause the droplets to freeze.
Though skypunches might seem like a majestic act of nature, the phenomenon is actually caused by human activity.
1. Frogsicles
As the days shorten and temperatures drop below freezing, various animals have developed unique survival strategies for winter. While bears hibernate and geese migrate south, the wood frog takes a much more unsettling approach: it allows itself to freeze solid.
Unlike other frogs, which seek shelter in the muddy depths of lakes, wood frogs burrow into the ground. With little warmth from the leaf litter, the frogs' bodies shut down completely. Their heart stops beating, their organs cease to function, and their blood freezes.
For most organisms, freezing would cause irreparable damage to tissues by disrupting the cells with ice crystals. The cells dehydrate and can no longer perform their functions. However, the wood frog prevents this by producing large amounts of glucose, which is transported into its cells to act as antifreeze.
Urea levels also rise, providing extra protection. While the frog’s cells remain unfrozen, the water in its skin, eyes, muscles, and the abdominal cavity surrounding certain organs freezes, turning the frog into a solid block of ice.
When spring arrives, the frog thaws from the inside out. The heart and lungs restart, and the frog hops away as if nothing unusual ever occurred.
