snow roller
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snow roller
[′snō ‚rō·lər] (hydrology)
A mass of snow, shaped somewhat like a lady's muff, rather common in mountainous or hilly regions; it occurs when snow, moist enough to be cohesive, is picked up by wind blowing down a slope and rolled onward and downward until either it becomes too large or the ground levels off too much for the wind to propel it further; snow rollers vary in size from very small cylinders to some as large as 4 feet (1.2 meters) long and 7 feet (2.1 meters) in circumference.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
References in periodicals archive
Weston's hay wagons were damaged, his
snow roller, which is used to pack down snow for the sleigh, was out across the field in a swamp.
Snow Rollers in Wiltshire by Brian Bayliss BRIAN BAYLISS
What you observed are known as
snow rollers, and they require some very specific conditions to form.
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