First Solar Halo of the Season
The skies here at our cabin just amaze me. I'm always finding something special. This week I saw the first solar halo of the season.
A solar halo occurs when when the sky is covered by thin cirrus clouds containing ice crystals high (5–10 km, or 3–6 miles) in the upper troposphere. The sunlight is bent as it passes through the ice crystals. It may also split the light into colors, much like a rainbow. Mine was of the more sedate white variety.
A 22 degree halo is the most common. The light from the sun passing through the ice crystals typically makes the inner edge of the circle more reddish and the outer edge more bluish. I saw this solar halo on May 10, 2015, looking south from my cabin in Hole in the Wall on Powell Lake in Coastal British Columbia. If it had been any bigger it would have been too large to capture the entire image in my camera's field.
And that's not all. I saw the same great view reflected back in the clear waters of the lake around me. Here's the flip side of the solar halo, almost as spectacular as the original in the sky. -- Margy
Labels:
Weather
Posts
WOW!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome Margy, great capture of the sky and the reflection in the lake.
ReplyDeleteSpectacular images Margy. I also read your interesting Potown Post and enjoyed the lovely photos and seeing you and Wayne :-) Enjoy the weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joyful, it was fun to be a guest blogger. - Margy
DeleteSpectacular !
ReplyDeleteI have never seen this phenomenon before. Outstanding photos and I just loved the reflection in the lake shot, so unusual and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWow, very cool shots!!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots - I especially like the reflection!!!
ReplyDeletevery well done!!! great shots
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing ! Great pictures !
ReplyDeleteVery cool pictures! You don't often see that. We are hoping for some great weather this weekend, fingers crossed, so we can enjoy some outside time.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Day long weekend has a tradition of rain for at least one of the days, but this year is looking a bit more hopeful as long as a thunderstorm doesn't pass over. - Margy
DeleteBeautiful pictures. Do they happen very often?
ReplyDeleteI saw one here in Bellingham coming home from the movies last evening. It was of the rainbow coloured variety visible only on the sides as the sun set. Then it's called sundogs. It happens when there are high clouds with ice crystals in them to refract the sunlight. - Margy
DeleteNever heard or seen this.. thanks for the post
ReplyDelete