8 amazing natural phenomena

1. Light pillar

This is not the Northern Lights, but another phenomenon known as a pillar of light. At freezing temperatures, floating, flat ice crystals can form crystal fog near the ground. The crystals reflect light from the ground, forming column-shaped beams.

A beam of light over Ontario Canada, as seen on January 13, 2018.

2. Lightning on the Catatumbo . River

The mouth of the Catatumbo River in Venezuela is illuminated almost continuously by lightning. Indigenous people call it the 'river of fire from the sky'. Recently this area was awarded the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's densest lightning area.

Guinness told the Huffington Post that the area has about 250 rays per square kilometer. Lightning occurs up to 300 nights a year. Lightning tends to start at dusk and last until dawn.

Lightning on the Catatumbo River.

3. The Phantom of Brocken

A humanoid surrounded by light. Meteorologists also call it a halo. It is said to be an observer's shadow surrounded by the edge of the rainbow. This miraculous phenomenon can be observed in the high mountains. However, the most common place is on the top of Brocken in the Harz Mountains in Germany. For the same reason, people have used the name Brocken to call this strange optical phenomenon.

Brocken ghost in Cader Idris mountain, Wales, UK.

4. Dragon Scale Cloud (Mammatus)

Dragon-scale clouds, or Mammatus clouds, are often a sign of a strong storm.

Mammatus clouds over Regina City, Saskatchewan, Canada, following a severe storm warning and tornado warning on June 26, 2012.

5. Morning Glory

Still no one knows for sure why such clouds form. Many experts have tried to study its origin and reasons for its formation, but no consensus has been reached. 

These clouds can stretch for more than six hundred miles (1,000 km) and are most commonly seen about a mile above the ground. They occur all over the world, with the most predictable occurrence each spring in Burketown, Australia. The clouds can move at 40 mph with almost no wind.

6. Sun dog

Sundogs are also known as mock suns or parhelia. These halos are formed by sunlight refracting through ice crystals. 

It is unclear exactly where the word 'sundog' comes from, possibly in reference to an optical phenomenon that appears next to the sun, like a loyal dog next to its owner.

Depending on the orientation of the ice crystals, the observer may see a halo or a 'dog' shape of the sun.

Sun dogs are a sign of bad weather, often signaling that rain will fall within the next 24 hours.

Sun dog.

7. Lenticular clouds

Moist air is pushed up around the top of the mountain, forming lenticular clouds. They form in the troposphere, which is in the lowest layers of the atmosphere.

Thick clouds over Mount Hotaka, Japan.

8. Fire Rainbows

If the sun is overhead and the clouds are filled with hexagonal ice particles, a circle, known as a fire rainbow, will appear. This 'fiery' natural phenomenon usually forms in fog-covered cirrus (thin bands) clouds at high altitudes.

You can only see this phenomenon at noon when the sun is at least 57.8 degrees above the horizon, and ideally 67.9 degrees. It is hardly seen in the middle of winter. Latitude is an important factor, the further north you go, the less likely you are to see it.

Fire rainbow.