Watch: Drone video shows off ice disc spinning in partially frozen river
The neighbor told the photographer they’d lived on the river for 30 years and had only seen this phenomenon once before.
Drone video shows spinning ice disc along Washington river
The recent arctic blast led to a spectacular sight of a frozen ice disc along the Stillaguamish River in northwestern Washington on Jan. 13, 2024. (Video courtesy: Laurie & Frank Ascanio)
SILVERTON, Wash. – The arctic blast covering much of the nation this weekend reached its icy tentacles into the Pacific Northwest, partially freezing a river in western Washington that led to an amazing confluence of physics and temperature.
Laurie Ascanio lives along the Stillaguamish River in northwestern Washington and said a neighbor alerted her to the strange circular ice disk spinning in the river near where it meets Deer Creek on Saturday.
Laurie, a local photographer, grabbed her husband Frank and their drone and set out to film the twirling frozen wonder.
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The ice disc is formed when a turn in the river creates an eddy along the bank. As the river surface slowly freezes, the slow spinning motion carves the ice into a perfect circle through a process called rotational shear.
The neighbor told Laurie they’d lived on the river for 30 years and had only seen this phenomenon once before.
However, ice discs have made news in other parts of the country. An ice disc along Maine’s Presumpscot River has appeared in a few recent winters.