A Collection of Amazing Natural Phenomena! I Love the Lenticular Clouds! You?

0

A small compilation of amazing natural phenomena.

Which one do you prefer?

Auroras

aurora, auroras, northern lights

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.

Fire Whirls

fire whirls, fire devil or fire tornado

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.

Finnish Lapland

Finnish Lapland, trees in lappland, icy trees in Lappland

In Finnish Lapland the temperature drops sub-freezing and common trees become cloaked in snow. It landscape becomes almost alien.

Penitentes

penitentes

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.

The Hessdalen Light

hessdalen light, the hessdalen light, mysterious hessdalen light

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.

Ball Lightning

Ball Lightning, unexplained Ball Lightning,  phenomena

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.

Ice Stalactite

Ice Stalactite

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. The technical name for this sort of thing is ‘ice stalactite’.

Sundogs

sundogs, sun halo, moon halo, halo around the sun, halo around the moon

This phenomenon that has to do with ice crystals in the atmosphere. Sundogs are essentially massive halos in the sky due to the result of light refraction, though in this case, they appear to actually encircle the sun. This actually can happen anywhere in the world when the sun is low in the sky, though it’s usually not noticeable.

Waterspouts

Waterspouts, water tornado, ocean tornado

They’re tornadoes that form over water. 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 190 miles (305 kilometers) 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.

Snow Donuts

snow donuts

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 favour, 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 centimetres).

Ice Ribbon

Ice Ribbon

Also known as Frost Flowers due to the shape it sometimes forms. They’re build-ups 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.

Lenticular Clouds

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.

Which one did you prefer?

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Leave a reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.