A strange weather phenomenon strewn Lake Manitoba with ice balls

The weather phenomenon led to the fact that Lake Manitoba in the area of Steep Rock was covered with ice balls.

Peter Hofbauer, a resident of the Steeprock neighborhood, goes to Lake Manitoba almost every day, but, according to him, when he went out to the lake on Saturday, he discovered something he had never seen before.

The lake was covered with ice balls.

"I've never seen ice of this shape before," he said.

Julienne Strove, a professor in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of Manitoba, said she was surprised when she saw photos of strange ice formations.

"I've never seen anything like it," she said.

As for the cause of the formation of ice balls, Strove believes that snowflakes may be the culprit.

"The snow flakes could act as a catalyst around which suddenly the top layer could start to freeze and form ice," she said. "If you have some kind of wave or wind that starts to turn everything around, you can get these forms of a snowball."

She said that a similar phenomenon could occur in the Arctic.

"You get pancake ice, and this really happens when the surface layer first freezes and a thin ice sheet begins to form, and then, under the action of waves, these small pieces of ice collide with each other, and rounded edges are obtained, and you get these pancake shapes."

According to her, it is interesting to observe a similar weather phenomenon in Manitoba.

"I think there are always amazing weather events in nature that can create very beautiful shapes, and I think this is one of them," she said.

Hofbauer said that in Manitoba, you never know what awaits you when you go outside.

"Just keep your eyes and ears open, and we can learn something every time we go out into nature."