Can icicles form sideways? Hey Ray!

The Barton Family sent me a message asking, "Have you ever seen horizontal icicles before?" 

That message came with these very horizontal icicles that seem to defy gravity as they protrude from the awning.

What could be happening to make these icicles act so strangely?

To get an icicle, you first need to have some melting from above. That causes the water to drip down. As it moves away from the heat source or the source of the melting, the water freezes again.  

This dripping results in most of the water freezing at the base, with less freezing at the tip, giving it a tapered shape.

That is how a normal icicle forms.  

The icicles that the Barton Family shared with us are much different. I think a couple of things are at work here.  

One would be the wind. If the winds were steady enough, as the water dripped down the icicle, it would be pushed back, causing the ice to accumulate in the back, rather than at the bottom.  

The point still appears.  You can also see gravity trying to work on most of the icicles as they have a slight downward slant.

I think another weird attribute of water is at play here, too.  

Water molecules like to bond with other water molecules, which is called cohesion.  According to the US Geological Survey, water molecules can also be attracted to other things. This causes them to stick to it. That is a process called adhesion. This allows the water to essentially grip the icicle as the wind pushes it back.  

A final thing that may be at play here is that, in addition to the wind, some of the icicles were already present.  From there, the melting snow on the roof shifted down, causing the icicles to rotate from vertical to horizontal. 

Some icicles even looked to slide, then rotate upward!  These things all factored together made for some really weird icicles! 

We love your science and weather questions!  Keep them coming in!