Maine’s Famous Spinning Ice Disk Is Back

 

When temperatures plummet along the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, conditions are right for a breathtaking natural phenomenon: a large disk of ice on the river, rotating in slow circles. “Apparently it just formed yesterday in a cold snap,” says Caran-Marie Michel, one of the first to spot the ice disk after it appeared on January 11. “No one’s really sure how long it will last, so people are flocking to see it while it’s here. It’s like a festival.”
The ice disk is the long-anticipated sequel of a first spinning ice disk that formed under similarly frigid conditions in January of 2019. Its predecessor was about 100 yards in diameter and rotated counterclockwise on the river for two weeks — delighting “disk-peepers” and gaining media attention from as far away as England.
This year’s is a similar size, but appears thinner. It spun carefree for a day before freezing fast to the surrounding ice in low temperatures overnight. Curious crowds can still make out the shape of a circle, though, reminiscent of a full moon surrounded by clouds.

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https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/maines-famous-spinning-ice-disk-is-back