WEATHER PHENOMENON: Omen - Utah Storms Bring Sun Halos And Sundogs!

© stgeorgenews.com

May 23, 2015 - UTAH, UNITED STATES - With recent storms moving through Southern Utah on a weekly basis, conditions have been good for seeing two fascinating sights in the sky: sun halos and sundogs.

St. George resident Janna Fox was lucky enough to spot a sun halo Sunday, from her driveway at around 900 South and River Road.

"My 13-year-old son saw it first and came in and told us," Fox told St. George News. "I had never seen a sun halo before, in my 35 years! It was neat!"

Both sun halos and sundogs are caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in the high, thin cirrus clouds that often move in before a storm system. Sunlight reflects and bends, or refracts, causing these sometimes spectacular sights.

These ice-crystal displays can be seen year-round, because the upper atmosphere always below a freezing temperature.

A ring or circle of light around the sun or moon is called a halo, or, for the more scientifically minded, a parhelic circle or ring.

Sundogs are rainbow-colored splashes often seen to the left or right of the sun. Sundogs are also known as parhelions, and are formed by plate-shaped ice crystals drifting in the clouds, according to NASA.com.

© Janna Fox, St George News

Cirrus clouds are made of millions of hexagonal ice crystals 3 miles to 6 miles up in the atmosphere. Each ice crystal acts as a tiny prism bending the sun's light and throwing it elsewhere into the sky. The spectacular displays in the sky depend on the size and tilt of the ice crystals.

There's an old weather saying, "ring around the moon means rain soon," and there is truth to that, according to Earthsky.org. High thin cirrus clouds often precede a storm system, at 20,000 feet. These clouds contain ice crystals, by the millions. The halos are caused by both refraction and reflection of sunlight.

Sundogs and sun halos are just two of nearly four dozen different kinds of effects produced by sunlight interacting with ice crystals in the sky.

So when's the best way to catch one of these beauties in the sky? Both sun halos and sundogs may be seen whenever and wherever there are cirrus clouds in the sky.

The best displays are most commonly seen in the fall, winter and spring when the northern jet stream descends southward, drawing down Arctic air masses that carry ice crystals.

Sundogs are found at or more than 22 degrees to the left or right of the sun and at the same height above the horizon as the sun.

Because sundogs and sun halos are found near the sun, viewers should protect their eyes while viewing. - St. George Utah.

 

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS: Solar Halos - Heavenly Pictures Show The Sun Ringed By A HALO Over Tibet!

March 15, 2013 - TIBET - Looking at these pictures it is perhaps unsurprising that a new Pope has been elected.  Thanks to a rare phenomenon the blazing sun has been pictured over Tibet looking as if it is wearing a halo.  The bizarre bright ring also makes it look like as though a huge eye is in the sky.  Also known as a 'sundog', a solar halo is a distant cousin of a rainbow caused by sunlight shining through a thin layer of cloud called Cirrostratus, which is made up of millions of tiny ice crystals.

Angelic: This incredible halo around the Sun was captured by a Russian photographer as she travelled across the Tibetan desert.

The thin cloud cover is up anywhere about 9km above sea level where the temperature is between minus 30C and minus 35C.  The spectacular images were taken by Russian photographer Elena Belozorova who spotted the extraordinary sight while driving to Darchen city.   The 38-year-old from Vologda said it was a truly magical moment.   'I have seen lots of things in my life but I've never seen anything like this before,' she said.

How they form: Also known as a 'sundog', a solar halo is a distant cousin of a rainbow caused by sunlight shining through a thin layer of cloud called Cirrostratus, which is made up of millions of tiny ice crystals.

The phenonemen is officially called a pathelia but is also known as a 'sundog', 'halo' or 'mock sun'. The sight is more commonly seen when the sun is low in the sky and not in the middle of the day.  Cultures around the globe have traditionally given great significance and meaning to a sun dog when they see one.  In medieval times and early aboriginal forecasting halos were a sign of rain on its way - with rain predicted for Friday when the halo will disappear.

'We were stunned': Miss Belozorova said even her local guides were amazed to see the halo form.

Portentous: Cultures around the globe have traditionally given great significance to the phenomena.

'The light in Tibet is very special, it's fantastic. I've never seen such colours in the sky before. It was all so clear and vivid,' said Ms Belozorova.  'The sky is very changeable, every minute there is a different light or pattern.  'We saw the halo as it was created and transformed. We were stunned.  'Even our guides were totally amazed. It looked like a huge eye and occupied half of the sky.  'It almost looked like the entrance to another world.'  - Daily Mail.