14 DAY TRIAL // As the United States battle the lowest temperatures it has experienced in more than a century, experts are beginning to catalog some of the cold snap's most intriguing effects. One of the weirdest for sure is the discovery of large ice balls swarming the shores of Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes.
The ice formations were most likely caused by the presence of the polar vortex over large swaths of North America, including the eastern and central parts of the United States, and central Canada. The vortex brings with it cold wind patterns and low temperatures that usually belong at the North Pole.
According to meteorologists, the giant ice balls you can see in the video above form in Lake Michigan as water begins to freeze, but is pushed towards the shore by the rolling waves. This circular motion favors the formation of ice around large-enough nuclei, while ensuring that surrounding waters remain liquid.
In other words, these balls grow just like snowballs rolling done a slope, or like hailstone forming in the atmosphere. Interestingly, experts seem to think that these formations will continue to grow as long as the cold snap keeps on battering the area with record-low temperatures, The Blaze reports.