Self-Assembling Snow Man

Snow rollers are a strange wintertime sighting. These cylinders of snow roll themselves, forming as the wind picks up a small piece of snow and blows it down a hill. The clump picks up more and more snow, eventually forming a cylinder.

Snow rollers are often hollow; since the center consists of loosely packed snow, it can be blown away by the wind.

Image: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)