Even if temporarily, the polar vortex has completely reshaped the face of the United States. But while some are having huge problems while dealing with the cold, others are having fun. And not just surfers. Farm manager Andrew Sietsema was pruning apple trees in an icy orchard in western Michigan when he stumbled upon a rare phenomenon dubbed ‘ghost apples.’
“When I pruned the tree it would be shaken in the process, and the mush would slip out of the bottom of the ‘ghost apple,'” Andrew told Bored Panda. “Most apples just fell off, ice and all. But quite a few would leave a cool ‘ghost apple’ behind.”
“I guess it was just cold enough that the ice covering the apple hadn’t melted yet, but it was warm enough that the apple inside turned to complete mush (apples have a lower freezing point than water).”
“I’m sure you could find them at any orchard on the Ridge (near Sparta, MI), or at least any that still had a few unpicked apples hanging on the trees,” he added. ‘Jonagold’ is one of my favorite apple varieties, but we’ll call these “Jonaghosts.'”
According to Andrew, not a lot of fruits and veggies are capable of pulling off such a stunt. “You could only find them on other fruits and vegetables if they remained unharvested and persisted into the winter. Most crops do not.”
William Shoemaker, a retired fruit and vegetable horticulturist from the University of Illinois, told Forbes that those apples, leftover from harvest, just went through a week of “exceptionally cold weather” due to the polar vortex. “Besides being somewhat mummified, they could also be rotten,” he said. “[If so,] they maintain their form, but their substance gets closer to applesauce.”
When their temperature drops to around -18°C (0°F), their structure collapses, and a few could “spew their rotten contents successfully.” Although people might wonder why the apples didn’t freeze solid, Shoemaker reminded that the apple has a significant acid content, so it has to get extremely cold before it freezes as well.
People were really surprised to see this unusual phenomenon
I live in Michigan, and it's so cold that we haven't had a full week of school since December 16th because of snow days!
Hope you don't have to make it up in June. I'm in northern Wisconsin and we only had school close 2 days due to the cold. And 1 snow day.
Load More Replies...Beautiful and “ghostly”. I’d love to see one up close! It’d be a bit like seeing a frozen bubble, though this would be more rare, I’d imagine.
You realize that the "polar Vortex" isnt anything new.. it was originally called "a cold spell" before the internet came along.
Except this would have to have been called "a doozy of a cold spell".
Load More Replies...An ice rain I'd say, not cold per se. Or freezing rain or however to call it. Rain falls and instantly freezes upon contacting the surface. Seen it before on leaves(green leaves under ice is an op sight too) and berries, not on apples though. Does look cool :)
This very strange and the explanation is clearly wrong. In Canada we pick apples in Winter between 15 and -30 Fahrenheit (to make ice cider) and I never saw such a phenomena.
I'd guess it has more to do with ice rain than actual cold, that's the only thing I know that'd form solid ice cover on anything like that. Ice rain(when it's actual rain but it pretty much instantly turns to ice upon contacting the surface) happens at around 0 c.
Load More Replies...These frozen apples are no big deal. We get them in Colorado Springs at 6700 feet above sea level every winter. Perhaps so many people live in cities that they never see them. The photographs are good, though.
There is a serious business of fake news around here and people love it.
That is beautiful and strange, and probably deserves a place in the history books. You don't see something like this every day!
Wow! I've never seen anything like it! Although, I'm surprised that there are apples during this season though. I think they'd be really pretty if a light was shone through them.
I was hoping this would get posted here. I had intended to submit this myself when my mom told me about it on Saturday and forgot all about it. :P
I live in Michigan, and it's so cold that we haven't had a full week of school since December 16th because of snow days!
Hope you don't have to make it up in June. I'm in northern Wisconsin and we only had school close 2 days due to the cold. And 1 snow day.
Load More Replies...Beautiful and “ghostly”. I’d love to see one up close! It’d be a bit like seeing a frozen bubble, though this would be more rare, I’d imagine.
You realize that the "polar Vortex" isnt anything new.. it was originally called "a cold spell" before the internet came along.
Except this would have to have been called "a doozy of a cold spell".
Load More Replies...An ice rain I'd say, not cold per se. Or freezing rain or however to call it. Rain falls and instantly freezes upon contacting the surface. Seen it before on leaves(green leaves under ice is an op sight too) and berries, not on apples though. Does look cool :)
This very strange and the explanation is clearly wrong. In Canada we pick apples in Winter between 15 and -30 Fahrenheit (to make ice cider) and I never saw such a phenomena.
I'd guess it has more to do with ice rain than actual cold, that's the only thing I know that'd form solid ice cover on anything like that. Ice rain(when it's actual rain but it pretty much instantly turns to ice upon contacting the surface) happens at around 0 c.
Load More Replies...These frozen apples are no big deal. We get them in Colorado Springs at 6700 feet above sea level every winter. Perhaps so many people live in cities that they never see them. The photographs are good, though.
There is a serious business of fake news around here and people love it.
That is beautiful and strange, and probably deserves a place in the history books. You don't see something like this every day!
Wow! I've never seen anything like it! Although, I'm surprised that there are apples during this season though. I think they'd be really pretty if a light was shone through them.
I was hoping this would get posted here. I had intended to submit this myself when my mom told me about it on Saturday and forgot all about it. :P
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