This ice disk is slowly spinning on the South Thompson River.
(JENNA WHEELER / iNFOnews.ca)
January 21, 2020 - 12:30 PM
An ice disk has formed on the South Thompson River in Kamloops and the large, slowly revolving disk is caused by very specific weather and river conditions.
Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald says the phenomenon is quite rare.
“Speaking with colleagues in Manitoba who had a little more experience with river ice, they tell us that they’re what we call ice disks,” MacDonald says. “They require really a perfect set of weather conditions and river flow to materialize.”
MacDonald says the cold snap last week caused the river to solidify, and as the temperature warmed up, a section of the ice broke off.
“Eddies in the water create these rotating gyres of water and from what I understand, a chunk of ice breaks off and it spins off on its own and it grinds into the ice around it, and it forms into this very nice looking circle.”
If you're in the Kamloops area, you can check out the disk by taking a short hike along the Jack Gregson trail. It's across from the Tk’emlups powwow grounds.
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