Ohio residents, and certainly many in Richland County, saw the unique phenomenon today known as “snow rollers.” According to the National Weather Service, snow rollers form when downsloping winds roll up a sticky layer of snow that usually sits atop a drier, and likely, older layer of snow.
“It’s so cool; I haven’t seen it before. I was driving down [state Route] 13 and I saw them rolling across a field. It’s happening anywhere that there’s a flat field or yard. They’re all over the place,” said Rinda Sansom of Bellville. “I went home and got my camera and went back to take pictures.”
Armed with her camera, she drove back north on state Route 13 and pulled over at the intersection of German Church and Bellville North roads where she saw a field full of snow rollers.
“There must be 50, at least, in this field,” Sansom said. She said they ranged in size from fist size to possibly as much as 18 inches.
The size of a snow roller–which usually forms a cylindrical, log, shape–depends on the weight and cohesiveness of the snow, the strength of the wind, and the slope of the terrain.
And they are certainly uncommon. Snow rollers are formed under specific weather conditions. The National Weather Service event page states that the ground surface must have an icy, crusty snow, on which falling snow cannot stick. There must also be about an inch or so of loose, wet snow. And there needs to be gusty and strong winds to scoop out chunks of snow.
According to the event description, “Once the initial “seed” of the roller is started, it begins to roll. It collects additional snow from the ground as it rolls along, leaving trails behind it. The appearance is similar to building snowmen, except the snowball is more log-shaped rather than spherical, and many times they are hollow. They can be as small as a golf ball, or as large as a 30 gallon drum, but typically they are about 10 to 12 inches in diameter.”
