This morning, meteorologist Katie Nickoloau shared a TikTok video of a woman (with her face obscured) eating a long icicle pulled from the roof of her home. “Please don’t do that,” Nickolaou, 24, says in the footage. “I’m a meteorologist — I should know.”

She explained: “When icicles form, it’s from water that melts off of your roof and runs down the side of a building. Well, here’s the thing: You know what else is on your roof? Bird poop. A lot of it. And that water picks it up and freezes it in the ice. You’re eating poop!”

Animal excrement, tar, lead, car exhaust and other carcinogens

“In order for water to condense and form rain or snow, it needs cloud condensation nuclei [aerosol particles],” she says. “That’s a fancy term for a piece of dirt, salt, carbon or dust.” Icicles from rooftops can contain tar, lead or animal excrement, she says, and those from car mufflers may carry exhaust and other carcinogens.

Nickolaou, who has worked at the station for less than two years, wants to make people excited about the weather.

Why you shouldn't eat snow

“Next week, I’m posting a video about why you shouldn’t eat snow,” she tells Yahoo Life. “It contains an insect known as ‘snow fleas,’” referring to Springtails fossils, commonly referred to as wingless insects that are found in snow. “When you hang around enough weather nerds, you learn that fun fact.”

[msn.com]