1. Bioluminescence
www.philhart.com
www.solentnews.co.uk
The
spooky light is created by a chemical reaction called
“bioluminescence”, which happens when tiny organisms in the water are
disturbed. The photographer put his camera on a very slow shutter speed
and threw sand and stones into the water to cause the reaction and
capture as much of the blue haze as possible.
2. Supercells
www.someinterestingfacts.net
A
supercell is basically a stronger, more tornado-enabled version of a
regular storm cell. This is because—much like tornadoes—supercells have
the tendency to spin around a lot, but also—and more importantly—because
supercells can actually create tornadoes.
3. Volcanic Lightning
www.listverse.com
This
cool picture depicts a lightning storm that takes place in the middle
of a volcanic eruption. Scientists aren’t 100% sure why this happens,
but the primary theory goes that when a volcano erupts, it projects
positively-charged debris into the atmosphere. These charges then react
with negative charges already present, which results in 1) a bolt of
lightning, and 2) a really cool picture.
4. Snow Donuts
www.npr.org
These
rare shapes are formed—under perfect temperature conditions only—when a
mass of snow either falls or is blown by the wind. If it manages to
catch on to some other snow, and gravity or the wind is in its favor,
then the new snowball will roll itself in the exact same way we all used
to. In this case, though, the middles tend to collapse to create a
donut shape, which can end up as tall as 26 inches (66 cm).
5. Fire Rainbows
www.listverse.com
These
colorful offshoots are a large halo of refracted light, and despite
their nickname, they have nothing to do with either fire or rainbows.
They only occur when the sun is at least 58 degrees above the horizon,
when there are cirrus clouds in the sky that are filled with
plate-shaped ice crystals. The refraction of light is always parallel to
the horizon, and because the arcs are so big, only sections of them are
ever commonly seen—which is why it can look like certain patches of
cloud are on fire
6. Lenticular Clouds
They
are stationary lens-shaped and sometimes multi-layered clouds that form
at high altitudes. They are formed when moist air is forced to flow
upward around mountain tops. Due to their shape, they have been offered
as an explanation for some UFO sightings.
7. Auroras
www.travelization.net
Auroras
or polar lights are mesmerizing natural light display in the skies of
high latitude regions. They are caused when energetic electrically
charged particles from solar wind accelerate along the magnetic field
lines into the upper atmosphere, where they collide with gas atoms,
causing the atoms to give off light. The auroral zone is typically 10°
to 20° from the magnetic poles.
8. Fire Whirls
www.quora.com
The
fire whirls, fire devil or fire tornado, is a rare natural phenomenon
that occurs when a fire, combined by certain air temperature and
currents, forms a whirl that rises into the air like a tornado. They can
be actual whirlwinds that disengage from the flames, or else can become
a vortex of flame. The fire whirl usually occurs during bush fires.
9. Finnish Lapland
www.nownews.com
The
picture was taken last winter in Finnish Lapland where weather can
include sub-freezing temperatures and driving snow. Surreal landscapes
sometimes result, where common trees become cloaked in white and so
appear, to some, as watchful aliens or bizarre statues.
10. Sun Dogs
www.en.wikipedia.org
They
are massive halos in the sky as a result of light refraction—though in
this case, they appear to actually encircle the sun. Sun dogs can be
recognized by the two distinctive bright spots on either side of the
halo—if these blips are bright enough, it can even look like there are
three suns in the sky, all side by side. And the good news is that this
happens all the time, all over the world, so you’ll be able to start
seeing them if you look closely enough (especially when the sun is low
in the sky).
11. Skypunch
www.pinterest.com
A
fallstreak hole, also known as a punch hole cloud, is a large circular
or elliptical gap, that can appear in cirrocumulous or altocumulous
clouds. Such holes are formed when the water temperature in the clouds
is below freezing but the water has not frozen yet due to the lack of
icenucleation particles. When ice crystals do form it will set off a
domino effect, due to the Bergeon process, causing the water droplets
around the crystals to evaporate: this leaves a large, often circular,
hole in the cloud
12. Frost Flowers
www.en.wikipedia.org
They’re
buildups of ice particles around the base of certain plants and types
of wood. When the temperature outside the plant is below freezing and
the temperature within them is not, then water is pulled to the surface
in a process similar to transpiration. This leads to a fragile chain of
ice being pushed outward, which ends up forming sprawling, delicate
formations.
13. Columnar Basalt
www.listverse.com
The
unique formations are a result of lava flows cracking as they cool, in a
perpendicular direction to the original flow. Columnar basalt clusters
can be found all over the world—and then, naturally, climbed.
14. Penitentes
www.humanunderconstruction.blogspot.com
These
spiky fields of ice are called penitentes, and each individual shard
can be up to a whopping 4 m high. These intimidating snow structures are
formed in high-altitude areas with low humidity, such as the glaciers
of the Andes mountains. If the conditions are right, the sun’s rays are
so hot that they can actually sublimate fields of snow—meaning that the
frozen water vaporizes without ever becoming a liquid. This leads to
slight pockets in the ice, which—thanks to their shape—actually end up
attracting even more heat.
15. Light Poles
www.hybridtechcar.com
This
phenomenon is known as ‘light poles’ and it can be seen at nights over
the large cities with different colored lights. They can only be seen
during very cold weather (the temperature of -20 Celsius degrees or
lower is required). Also the wind must not blow fast and there has to be
a plenty of tiny ice crystals in the atmosphere.
16. Morning Glory Clouds
www.quora.com
Morning
Glory clouds are very rare types of clouds. They can stretch 1,000
kilometers long and occur at altitudes of up to 2 km. Although similar
clouds are seen in many places worldwide, the ones over Burketown,
Queensland in Australia occur predictably every spring. These tubes and
the surrounding air can cause dangerous turbulence for airplanes when
clear.
17. Waterspouts
www.apod.nasa.gov
They’re
tornadoes that form over water. Because of this, they don’t pose a
major threat unless you happen to be in a boat—but if you are, then
watch out, because these things can achieve speeds of up to 305 km per
hour. In fact, it’s been speculated that many mysterious shipwrecks—such
as those within the Bermuda Triangle—are simply a result of bad luck
with waterspouts.
18. Mammatus Clouds
www.indiaonrent.com
Mammatus
clouds are cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a
cloud. They are formed in sinking air contrary to any other form of
clouds that are formed in rising air. There are various hypotheses
offered behind the mechanism of its formation.
19. The Hessdalen Light
www.quora.com
Hessdalen
Light is an unexplained light phenomenon that occurs in Hessdalen
valley of Norway. They were observed over 15 to 20 times per week from
1982 until 1984. Since then, the activity has decreased and now the
lights are observed about 10 to 20 times per year.
20. Brinicles
www.listverse.com
When
the surface of the sea freezes—such as around the north and south
poles—it does so in a way that forces pockets of especially cold and
salty seawater to gather on the underside of the ice. This mixture of
brine is denser than the seawater below it, and as a result it tends to
slowly sink to the bottom. Now, because it’s so cold, the fresher water
below the brine actually freezes around it as it falls, which results in
a giant icicle under the surface.
21. Earthquake Lights
www.youtube.com
Earthquake
lights are unusual luminous atmospheric phenomenon. They are usually
reportedly in areas of high seismic activity or volcanic eruptions. They
were believed to be myths until they were photographed in 1965 during
the Matsushiro earthquake of Japan. It was then that seismologists
worldwide accepted of their existence. Earthquake lights are caused by
an unknown mechanism. They are either white, blue or multi-spectrum.
22. Ball Lightning
www.library.thinkquest.org
www.csironewsblog.com
Ball
lightning is an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon. The term
refers to reports of luminous, usually spherical objects which vary
from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. It is usually associated
with thunderstorms, but lasts considerably longer than the split-second
flash of a lightning bolt. Many of the early reports say that the ball
eventually explodes, sometimes with fatal consequences, leaving behind
the odor of sulfur.
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