(ETH) – An extremely rare phenomenon is taking place in Michigan as a result of a recent cold front that moved in. Thousands of what is being called “Ice Balls” have been reported washing ashore lake Michigan ranging from the size of baseballs to large yoga balls, resulting in the Michigan lakeshore completely covered.
According to a meteorologist at CNN, these Ice balls form when turbulent water near the shore breaks up a layer of slushy ice. Something else extraordinary is also happening with the formation of what is being called an “ice volcano”, which is reportedly a cone-shaped mound of ice formed over a terrestrial lake by the eruption of water and slush through an ice shelf.
“Ice volcanoes occur in locations in which waves hit accumulated ice on the shoreline with some force,” said Cort Spholten, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Grand Rapids.
“We were cold enough to form ice on the shore of Lake Michigan and water had broken the surface of that ice,” Spholten said. “The waves … were strong enough so the water channels through, it squeezes water upwards and tosses the floating ice up. As it happens, over the course of hours or days, it forms a cone and it resembles a volcano.” MORE
