Ghost Apples Are Haunting Tree Branches This Winter

Although this winter season has brought frigid and rough weather to multiple parts of the U.S., it’s also brought incredible photos of how nature has been handling the extreme cold. First, the photos of a frozen Niagara Falls amazed us, then frozen and foggy Lake Michigan wowed during the Polar Vortex. Now, and possibly the most peculiar site, is what people are calling ghost apples.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Sietsema via Facebook Photo courtesy of Andrew Sietsema via Facebook

Ghost apples have been popping up at apple orchards in western Michigan, where a roller coaster of weather conditions has taken place this winter season.

A ghost apple is created when the ice that covered the apple hasn’t melted yet, but the temperature outside is warm enough to cause the apple inside to mush. The mushy apple drains from the ice and leaves behind an icy ghost apple in its place.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Sietsema via Facebook Photo courtesy of Andrew Sietsema via Facebook

Thanks to Polar Vortex chills, above-average temperatures that followed, and a bit of freezing rain, ghost apples are now a thing. And while most apples are just falling off the trees, ice and all, a few still haunt their branches with icy remains.