On Highway 30 a rare sight: Snow bales

AUSTIN, Minn. – It was a meteorologist’s once-in-a-lifetime dream experience. As Cindy Morgan of television station KAAL was driving down Highway 30, she spotted a snow bale, then more — something as uncommon as a “perfect storm.” She stopped and recorded images. Essentially snow bales are like tumbleweeds, formed when wind pushes snow across the ground, sometimes downhill but not necessarily,.The snow rolls into a hollow cylinder. The wind has to be just right – not so fast as to break up the bale but fast enough to keep the bale rolling and gathering snow as goes along. The snow also has to be just right – light enough to roll but not heavy enough to collapse or be torn up. Snow bales as large as automobiles have been recorded.

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