I got the book National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather and they have over 350 beautifully colored pages of different weather phenomena. My plan is to duplicate each photo subject through my window.
First up is the Optical Phenomena.
Can you guess what is pictured?
A closer view may help.
Finally a broad shot.
The first two pictures were of sun dogs and the last also has a halo.
Sun dogs are known more formally as parhelia they often appear in pairs but in this case only one was visible. They can be solid white light or as seen more of a rainbow effect with the red closer to the sun and blue away from the sun. They are found to the right or left of the sun on the same plane and seen at a 22-24 degree distance.
This one had an accompanying parhelic circle or halo. Haloes are formed when light gets refracted through ice crystals in cirriform clouds. The ice crystals must be hexagonal with two flat ends.
Now this phenomina can occur all over the country and at any time of year but is most common in the southwest and before and after storms.
Today's Links: http://www.atoptics.co.uk/
