By Tim Binnall
A forestry worker in England was left scratching his head when he spotted a series of strange and sizeable snow formations in a field near his home. Brian Bayliss told the BBC that he initially suspected that they were the work of some enterprising pranksters, but that theory fell apart when he noticed that there were no footprints anywhere in the vicinity. Coupled with the odd shape of the proverbial bales of snow, which measured between two to three feet in diameter, the man mused that "they just made no sense."
Curious about what could have created the formations, Bayliss snapped a few pictures of the oddities and sent them off to the BBC. Fortunately, a meteorologist working for the media outlet was able to quickly identify the anomalies. Ian Ferguson marveled that they are a "very rare meteorological phenomenon" known as 'snow rollers.' According to the meteorologist, these formations require a rather precise set of conditions, including being on a smooth hillside and certain wind speeds, to be present in order to develop.