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
How fascinating! However this happened it's beautiful.
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.
Most of those snow days were in a State of Emergency, so we don't have to make them up at the end of the year :D I hope you get some snow days before Spring!
We've had, I think, 3-4 days of school in the last 3&1/2 weeks. Last week and the week before were both zero days. Our superintendent sent out a message saying "I'd rather have school in July than a funeral in February." Really explains the situation around here.
wow thats incredible!
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.
How fascinating! However this happened it's beautiful.
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.
Most of those snow days were in a State of Emergency, so we don't have to make them up at the end of the year :D I hope you get some snow days before Spring!
We've had, I think, 3-4 days of school in the last 3&1/2 weeks. Last week and the week before were both zero days. Our superintendent sent out a message saying "I'd rather have school in July than a funeral in February." Really explains the situation around here.
wow thats incredible!
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.