Ice pancakes seen floating on western Minnesota river

WHEATON, Minn. (FOX 9) - A woman in western Minnesota captured "ice pancakes" floating along a river on New Year’s Day. 

After a string of warm weather led to a lack of snow and ice in December, cooler temperatures arrived just in time for the New Year. And the drop in temperature helped form a relatively rare phenomenon, known as ice pancakes.

Carol Bauer captured aerial footage of the ice pancakes on top of the Mustinka River in Wheaton, Minnesota, located near the border of South Dakota. She shared the aerial footage on X, formerly Twitter, showing the clusters of small circular-shaped ice. 

Ice pancakes usually only form under specific conditions, according to the Met Office. In rivers, ice pancakes are created when the foam begins to freeze and join together, then gets sucked into a swirling current, forming it into a circular shape. 

Storyful contributed to this report.