Incredibly cool, spinning ice disc is back and drawing onlookers again
The unusual phenomenon first appeared in a river in 2019. Mysteriously, it didn't show up last winter after making only a partial appearance the year before -- but now it's back and making headlines again.
By
Monica Danielle, AccuWeather Managing Editor
Published Jan 17, 2022 11:58 AM EST
|
Updated Jan 17, 2022 11:59 AM EST
Drone videos captured this ice disk floating on the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, from Jan. 11-13. Ice disks are a rare phenomenon that forms when certain conditions are perfectly met.
It looks like a full moon shining celestially in the night sky. Or the way Earth appears as seen from space. Onlookers are flocking to the shores of the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, to check out the formation of a captivating phenomenon known as an ice disk.
This isn't the disk's first appearance. The spectacle first appeared in January 2019, an occurrence that made national headlines.
It partially formed in 2020, prompting the City of Westbrook to excitedly tweet, “ICE BREAKING NEWS: Ice Disk 2020 is making a run for it ... It’s not a perfect circle yet, but it is rotating counter-clockwise again & the seagulls are along for the ride."
Alas, Ice Disk 2020 never fully formed and was not destined for international fame as happened during its first appearance in 2019 as a 100-yard-wide (91-meters-wide) ice formation before melting away as the temperature rose.
But Ice Disk 2022 is looking good and already garnering attention. Westbrook city officials shared photos of the formation on Jan. 12 on Facebook and encouraged residents to share their images of the disk.
Drone video filmed by the City of Westbrook between January 11 and 13 shows the formation on the Presumpscot River, against a backdrop of the city’s snowy landscape. (City of Westbrook via Storyful)
Ice disks are a fairly rare phenomenon, according to Chris Horvat, a researcher at Brown University who is a polar oceanographer. Horvat studies the connections between sea ice and climate and cooperated with the city to set up a webcam to keep a close eye on the first ice disk back in 2019.
Ice disks form, according to Horvat, through a combination of a river’s structure and air temperatures. The disk in Westbrook, a suburb about 20 miles west of Portland, took shape at a bend in the river that produces circulations known as back eddies.
“You get this circulation pattern that on the surface looks like a vortex,” Horvat explained to Brown University. “Ice that’s formed downstream will hit this vortex and form an ever-larger chunk. As it spins, it rubs against the side of the river and that’s what makes it symmetrical.”
What the disk does next depends on the weather. If it gets cold enough, the water around the disk could freeze and stop the disk's rotation. The disk could just become part of the ice spanning the river. With a brutally cold punch of Arctic air expected to arrive in the Midwest and move up into the Northeast later this week and into next, that scenario seems likely.
City officials warn those angling for a glimpse of the photogenic disk to just look or take photos and not to try to walk on it. As per Westbrook's Facebook post, if you do take cool photos or videos of the disk, "post it and tag us. We'd love to see what you've captured! #icedisk2022"
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Winter Weather
Incredibly cool, spinning ice disc is back and drawing onlookers again
The unusual phenomenon first appeared in a river in 2019. Mysteriously, it didn't show up last winter after making only a partial appearance the year before -- but now it's back and making headlines again.
By Monica Danielle, AccuWeather Managing Editor
Published Jan 17, 2022 11:58 AM EST | Updated Jan 17, 2022 11:59 AM EST
Drone videos captured this ice disk floating on the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, from Jan. 11-13. Ice disks are a rare phenomenon that forms when certain conditions are perfectly met.
It looks like a full moon shining celestially in the night sky. Or the way Earth appears as seen from space. Onlookers are flocking to the shores of the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, to check out the formation of a captivating phenomenon known as an ice disk.
This isn't the disk's first appearance. The spectacle first appeared in January 2019, an occurrence that made national headlines.
It partially formed in 2020, prompting the City of Westbrook to excitedly tweet, “ICE BREAKING NEWS: Ice Disk 2020 is making a run for it ... It’s not a perfect circle yet, but it is rotating counter-clockwise again & the seagulls are along for the ride."
Alas, Ice Disk 2020 never fully formed and was not destined for international fame as happened during its first appearance in 2019 as a 100-yard-wide (91-meters-wide) ice formation before melting away as the temperature rose.
But Ice Disk 2022 is looking good and already garnering attention. Westbrook city officials shared photos of the formation on Jan. 12 on Facebook and encouraged residents to share their images of the disk.
Drone video filmed by the City of Westbrook between January 11 and 13 shows the formation on the Presumpscot River, against a backdrop of the city’s snowy landscape. (City of Westbrook via Storyful)
Ice disks are a fairly rare phenomenon, according to Chris Horvat, a researcher at Brown University who is a polar oceanographer. Horvat studies the connections between sea ice and climate and cooperated with the city to set up a webcam to keep a close eye on the first ice disk back in 2019.
Ice disks form, according to Horvat, through a combination of a river’s structure and air temperatures. The disk in Westbrook, a suburb about 20 miles west of Portland, took shape at a bend in the river that produces circulations known as back eddies.
“You get this circulation pattern that on the surface looks like a vortex,” Horvat explained to Brown University. “Ice that’s formed downstream will hit this vortex and form an ever-larger chunk. As it spins, it rubs against the side of the river and that’s what makes it symmetrical.”
What the disk does next depends on the weather. If it gets cold enough, the water around the disk could freeze and stop the disk's rotation. The disk could just become part of the ice spanning the river. With a brutally cold punch of Arctic air expected to arrive in the Midwest and move up into the Northeast later this week and into next, that scenario seems likely.
City officials warn those angling for a glimpse of the photogenic disk to just look or take photos and not to try to walk on it. As per Westbrook's Facebook post, if you do take cool photos or videos of the disk, "post it and tag us. We'd love to see what you've captured! #icedisk2022"
More weather spectacles:
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
Report a Typo