Weather Words: Ghost Apples

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If there were ever a fruit fit for a haunted orchard, it would be the ghost apple. This strange, icy illusion looks like something straight out of a fairy tale (or a frosty nightmare). These eerie creations appear when freezing rain coats rotting apples still clinging to their branches. As the decaying fruit turns to mush, it slips away through the bottom, leaving behind a perfectly formed ice shell in the shape of the original apple. The result is a hollow, crystal-clear "ghost" of the fruit that seems to hover on the tree, defying nature with its delicate, slightly spooky beauty.

Ghost apples are most commonly spotted in late winter, especially in orchards across the Midwest, where freezing rain and old fruit make the perfect recipe for this natural phenomenon. But these apples won’t be filling if you take a bite, they are all show and no substance, vanishing at the slightest touch or melting away as the temperatures warm.

J​ennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.