An unusually large example of an ice circle formed just downstream of the Big River Bridge on Saturday, January 7. Large ice circles like this are relatively rare, especially so on the Middle Fork river where cold temperatures don’t usually persist long enough for ice to form on the river. The photo below was taken by a frequent visitor to the valley. More photos and videos are on Kaylyn Messer’s blog.
Ice circle just downstream of the Big River Bridge. Photo by Bill Davis, all rights reserved.
Word spread around North Bend and during the afternoon dozens of vehicles drove to the bridge to see the phenomenon despite the 25° weather
The last hard freeze in the Middle Fork valley occurred in December, 2013 but even though a skim of ice formed at the same spot in the river no ice circle was reported. Photo by Bill Davis
Ice caused the TANW1 river gage just downstream of the bridge to stop functioning for a few days
Related news
- Living Snoqualmie – Natural phenomenon on the Snoqualmie River, beautiful spinning Ice Circle
- KOMO, KCBY, CBS – Mother Nature takes some ice for a spin in Snoqualmie River
- KIRO – Ice circle seen spinning on Snoqualmie River
- Weather Network – Tranquil ice circle spins on half-frozen river
- MSN / WSJ – Mother Nature takes some ice for a spin in Snoqualmie River