Lillehammer - Reportedly this weird phenomena has been happening for years on the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, north of Lillehammer in Norway. But this is the first time that someone has actually caught it on camera.

The peculiar ice flow is perfectly circular in shape, and spins round and round on the river. Trond Stordal, who took the video told Norway's NRK (in Norwegian) that, "I have seen this for years, and many times thought that I would try to get it on film."

"I spent some time one morning and got myself some good pictures," he added. Stordal, 48, a resident of nearby Otta, took several still pictures with an SLR and also filmed a video with his cell phone.

Circular Ice Flow
© Screen Capture/YouTube
According to another resident in the area, Adi Bertoli, the phenomenon actually has a name - locals call it kværna and it usually happens in November, before the ice is solidly frozen on the river.

She did say that she has never actually seen it before in January. "But there has been open water for a lot of this winter, so that's maybe the reason," she added.

According to an engineer with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Ånund Sigurd Kvambekk, the phenomenon is well known, although it is not common to actually see it.

Reportedly it sometimes occurs in the backwaters of rivers, where there has to be a calm flow of water, and the phenomenon is then triggered by a sudden change of temperature. Because of the river's design, the water is brought up and around in a circular motion, he said.

This is the second unusual ice phenomenon in Norway reported on Digital Journal recently, as a sudden drop in temperature flash-froze a whole school of fish.