Blast away your winter blahs by taking in these seasonal weather phenomena | 24CA News
Even on the coldest and snowiest days and nights, our planet by no means fails to supply some unimaginable sights.
Here’s just a few of them you’ll be able to take on this winter.
Sun canines
It’s a freezing chilly day and also you lookup into the sky. What are these rings across the solar?
They’re known as solar canines. Although the etymology of the time period is a bit obscure, the formation itself is well identifiable.
The 22-degree halos type when the solar passes by ice crystals suspended within the air, in line with Samantha Lawler, a professor of astronomy on the University of Regina.
“The ice crystals can either be up in cirrus clouds at very high altitude, or they can be very close to the ground,” stated Lawler.
It does not essentially need to be chilly to see solar canines. Lawler stated greater altitude solar canines can develop in hotter climates.
“I’ve seen pictures of them in the middle of the hot desert, because at high altitude it’s still very cold,” she stated.
Sun canines are simply one in every of quite a few halos that type across the solar and moon.
Rime ice
A continuing climate characteristic on the Prairies thus far this yr, rime ice is commonly confused with hoar frost.
While hoar frost kinds on clear, chilly nights by a course of known as deposition — the place water vapour transitions to ice, skipping the liquid part — rime ice kinds when there is a dense layer of fog.
Water droplets that type fog freeze when the temperature drops under 0 C. If they freeze after they’ve landed on issues like tree branches or mild poles, the outcomes will be breathtaking.
It will be pricey. Rime ice can overwhelm energy strains, inflicting widespread outages, like one which occurred in Saskatchewan in 2018.
Snow rollers
These are like winter tumbleweeds. They’re snowballs which might be fashioned naturally — not by people.
The snow rolls alongside the bottom and may take the form of many issues, together with pastry rolls.
Millicent Leugner noticed the phenomenon lately in Macrorie, Sask.
“I saw hundreds of them in the fields,” Leugner stated. “I thought it was quite unique to see something like that.”
Her pal snapped a photograph of 1 snow curler that measured greater than 30 cm in diameter.
According to Terri Lang, a meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, three key elements are wanted to make snow rollers type.
“Generally you need fresh snow,” stated Lang. “And you have to have pretty mild temperatures as well, so that the snow is sticky.
“And if the winds are persistent, too — not a lot gusty winds, however a persistent wind pushing it — it helps to make these rollers and preserve them going.”
The phenomenon is rather rare, but not unheard of. They appeared after a storm a few years in the past in Saskatoon, and a few years in the past in Ottawa.
Fata Morgana
This type of mirage makes objects in the distance look distorted — even appearing as if they’re floating or upside down.
It’s most commonly seen in Canada during the winter, when warm air — from Chinook winds, for instance — meets our typical cold, winter air mass.
The temperature difference bends light waves above ground level. The bending gives objects that wonky appearance. Although typically seen on land, it can also be seen on water.
Aurora borealis
You can see the aurora borealis at almost any time of the year, but winter is particularly good.
Kathryn McWilliams, a professor of physics and engineering physics at the University of Saskatchewan, said longer winter nights provide better lighting for the aurora. The weather also helps too.
“We are likely to have clear skies within the winter,” said McWilliams. “It makes it chilly to exit and watch them, however it makes them extra seen.”
She also noted that the sun is currently near the peak of an 11-year cycle, which means more solar activity is likely. With solar activity driving the aurora, there’s a good chance it will be more frequent over the next couple of winters.
The best time to see the lights, according to McWilliams, is closest to the spring and fall equinoxes in March and September, because there’s more solar activity during this time.
These are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, when it comes to winter phenomena. With others including pancake ice on water and mild pillars within the evening sky, there’s quite a bit of potential winter surprise to scare away your seasonal blues.
