(NEXSTAR) – A photo of “snow rollers” that formed during a recent weather event in Michigan gained traction on Reddit earlier this month, sparking curiosity over the whimsical, snowy sighting.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” one viewer wrote, remarking on the dozens of doughnut-shaped snowballs peppered across a field.
The peculiar formations inspired nicknames including “snonuts,” “Snoghetti-Os” and, more crudely, “snowman toilet paper.”
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But as otherworldly as they sometimes look, snow rollers are simply a natural phenomenon that can occur in snowy and windy conditions — or rather, very specific snowy or windy conditions.
As noted by the National Weather Service (NWS), snow rollers can form when a layer of “light but sticky snow” covers the ground. Strong winds — or, in some cases, gravity — then cause chunks or little sheets of this soft snow to roll over onto itself, creating a small tube that can continue to grow during subsequent winds…