Bomb Cyclone Creates Rare Slushie Waves in New York (Video)

A major winter storm has brought frigid weather to the U.S. East Coast.

It’s even being dubbed a potential “bomb cyclone” – or bombogenesis for the technical term – which, according to NOAA, “can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, such as air over warm ocean waters.” In other words, freezing.

But that didn’t stop East Coast surfers for at least checking the waves, and in some cases, paddling out during the extreme weather. Over on Montauk in New York, the weather was so frigid, the ocean partially froze, creating the ultimate slushie waves.

Photographer Erik Schwab (aka saltyvisionz) captured the slurpee waves breaking in Montauk, and provided some rare, and truly incredible imagery. Per Schwab:

“MESMERIZING... Every once in a while there's something that happens in nature that just fires me up to the point of random hooting, strange erratic movements, all while usually stumbling around with a camera in hand…Yesterday it was the slushee waves. Seeing the liquid wave on the outside approach the slush was exhilarating.. It was like seeing the set on the outside and anticipating how and where exactly it would break. Figure out where on the icy beach I needed to be to ‘get the shot’.”

Pretty captivating shots.

Elsewhere, Surfline took the opportunity to explain how this phenomenon happens.

They explained:

“We’ve all learned that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, right? Well, that is correct for freshwater, but not saltwater.

“Saltwater freezes at 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

“When saltwater does ‘freeze,’ it is mostly freshwater, fresh enough to even drink. This is because saltwater becomes denser as it nears its freezing point, while freshwater becomes less dense when it gets close to freezing.

“This keeps colder, denser saltwater underneath and less dense, more fresh water on top.”

Now, the real question is: Can you surf it? TBD.