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See Also
See Again
Stunning pictures of the world's strangest and rarest weather phenomena - Stunning pictures of the world's strangest and rarest weather phenomena
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
Fallstreak holes
- Fallstreak holes are thought to appear when the water temperature in the clouds is freezing but it hasn't formed ice.
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Fallstreak holes
- When ice crystals do form in Fallstreak holes, it can lead to water droplets evaporating and leaving a huge hole behind.
© Shutterstock
2 / 31 Fotos
Snow donuts
- Snow donuts or snow rollers are formed the same way as a snowball. The wind picks up some snow and rolls it across the ground, where it gathers more snow before stopping. Snow rollers get their distinctive look because the thinner layers blow away as they form.
© Shutterstock
3 / 31 Fotos
Snow donuts
- Snow donuts are rare because they require perfect weather conditions. The snow needs to be wet enough, but not so much so that it sticks to the ground.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Fire tornadoes
- Fire tornadoes, or fire whirls, are vortices that suck in gases and combustible materials. They're most common in large-scale wildfires, and the temperature inside them can reach over 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
Microbursts
- Microbursts are smaller versions of downbursts. Downbursts are the opposite of a tornado in that they produce downward rushing winds that spread out quickly once they hit the ground.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Sprites
- Sprites are a type of cold plasma discharge that occurs above a thundercloud as a way of balancing out the positive lightning charges released between the cloud and the ground.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Sprites
- Sprites occur at about 16,400 to 19,685 feet (50 to 90 kilometers) above the earth so images of them are rarely captured.
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Twin tornadoes
- Twin tornadoes are formed from the same storm supercell. Two funnels can be visible if a new tornado forms while the other dies out or when one funnel is so strong that another less powerful funnel can form from the vortices being generated by the first.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Twin tornadoes
- Twin tornadoes are rare, and you can wait 10 to 15 years between each one.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Nacreous clouds
- Nacreous clouds, also known as mother-of-pearl clouds, form in very cold conditions and at high altitudes. As sunlight passes through the water droplets, it diffracts, creating a beautiful spectrum of colors. In December 2023, a rare sighting of nacreous clouds occurred in the UK.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
Kelvin-Helmholtz waves
- Kelvin-Helmholtz waves occur when two different layers of air are moving at different speeds. When the upper layer of air is moving at a higher speed than the lower level air, it may form the top of an existing cloud layer into a wave-like rolling shape.
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Waterspouts
- Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water or move from land to water. Fair weather waterspouts are a less dangerous type of waterspout, they are very weak and only last a few minutes.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Waterspouts
- Sometimes waterspouts suck up fish and frogs from bodies of water before "raining" them down to the ground again. In 1957, thousands of small fish, frogs, and crayfish fell from the sky during a rainstorm in Alabama.
© Shutterstock
14 / 31 Fotos
White rainbows
- A white rainbow, or a fog bow, is similar to a rainbow but appears in foggy conditions rather than rain. When the sunlight passes through the fog water droplets, they appear white rather than colorful.
© Shutterstock
15 / 31 Fotos
Noctilucent clouds
- Noctilucent clouds are clouds of icy dust that form around 30 to 54 miles (50 to 86 kilometers) above the surface of the earth. They're seen at night time, on clear summer nights.
© Shutterstock
16 / 31 Fotos
Noctilucent clouds
- Noctilucent clouds may also be a warning sign of climate change because much of the moisture needed to form them comes from methane, a greenhouse gas. As methane pollution has increased, noctilucent clouds have become more common.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Ball lightning
- Ball lightning usually occurs near the ground during thunderstorms. Scientists aren't sure what causes ball lightning, but explanations include air or gas behaving abnormally and high-density plasma phenomena.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Morning glory clouds
- Morning glory clouds look like enormous tubes in the sky. They can measure up to 600 miles (965 kilometers) long and are most likely to be observed in Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria.
© Shutterstock
19 / 31 Fotos
Morning glory clouds
- It's thought that morning glory clouds are formed when an updraft of air pushes through the clouds, causing their distinctive tube-like appearance.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
Giant hailstones
- Large hailstones, or ice bombs, fall from the sky during severe thunderstorms. They’re formed from normal-sized hail that collects water droplets that freeze as they fall.
© Shutterstock
21 / 31 Fotos
Giant hailstones
- According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the world record for the largest hailstone belongs to an 8-inch (20.3 cm) hailstone that fell in South Dakota in 2010.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Mammatus clouds
- Mammatus clouds have a large water or ice content which creates their unique, bubble-like appearance. The presence of these clouds usually means severe weather is on the way.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Lenticular clouds
- Lenticular clouds form on the side of a mountain when moist air flows downwards and then stabilizes. While they appear calm, they're known for producing turbulence.
© Getty Images
24 / 31 Fotos
Supercells
- Supercells are a type of convective storm that consists of a rotating updraft called a mesocyclone. They often produce heavy hail, violent thunderstorms, and tornadoes.
© Shutterstock
25 / 31 Fotos
Supercells
- Supercells can occur anywhere in the world, but they're mostly found in the Great Plains area of the US, known as Tornado Alley.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Green flash
- Green flashes are an optical phenomenon that you can see shortly after sunset or before sunrise. They often take place over the sea, when light is refracted through layers of the lower atmosphere. The green flashes last only a moment or two.
© Shutterstock
27 / 31 Fotos
Sun halo
- Sun halos appear when ice crystals in thin cirrus clouds reflect sunlight, creating the illusion of a ring around the sun.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Sun dogs
- Like sun halos, sun dogs are formed when the sun is close to the horizon and there are thin cirrus clouds high in the sky. When the shafts of light are vertically aligned, they create sun dogs—spots of light that appear on either side of the sun.
© Shutterstock
29 / 31 Fotos
Sun dogs
- Sundogs were spotted across the midwest and northeast United States in January 2019 during a polar vortex (a large pocket of very cold air). Sources: (Science Focus) (Ovo Energy)
© Shutterstock
30 / 31 Fotos
Stunning pictures of the world's strangest and rarest weather phenomena - Stunning pictures of the world's strangest and rarest weather phenomena
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
Fallstreak holes
- Fallstreak holes are thought to appear when the water temperature in the clouds is freezing but it hasn't formed ice.
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Fallstreak holes
- When ice crystals do form in Fallstreak holes, it can lead to water droplets evaporating and leaving a huge hole behind.
© Shutterstock
2 / 31 Fotos
Snow donuts
- Snow donuts or snow rollers are formed the same way as a snowball. The wind picks up some snow and rolls it across the ground, where it gathers more snow before stopping. Snow rollers get their distinctive look because the thinner layers blow away as they form.
© Shutterstock
3 / 31 Fotos
Snow donuts
- Snow donuts are rare because they require perfect weather conditions. The snow needs to be wet enough, but not so much so that it sticks to the ground.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Fire tornadoes
- Fire tornadoes, or fire whirls, are vortices that suck in gases and combustible materials. They're most common in large-scale wildfires, and the temperature inside them can reach over 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
Microbursts
- Microbursts are smaller versions of downbursts. Downbursts are the opposite of a tornado in that they produce downward rushing winds that spread out quickly once they hit the ground.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Sprites
- Sprites are a type of cold plasma discharge that occurs above a thundercloud as a way of balancing out the positive lightning charges released between the cloud and the ground.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Sprites
- Sprites occur at about 16,400 to 19,685 feet (50 to 90 kilometers) above the earth so images of them are rarely captured.
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Twin tornadoes
- Twin tornadoes are formed from the same storm supercell. Two funnels can be visible if a new tornado forms while the other dies out or when one funnel is so strong that another less powerful funnel can form from the vortices being generated by the first.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Twin tornadoes
- Twin tornadoes are rare, and you can wait 10 to 15 years between each one.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Nacreous clouds
- Nacreous clouds, also known as mother-of-pearl clouds, form in very cold conditions and at high altitudes. As sunlight passes through the water droplets, it diffracts, creating a beautiful spectrum of colors. In December 2023, a rare sighting of nacreous clouds occurred in the UK.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
Kelvin-Helmholtz waves
- Kelvin-Helmholtz waves occur when two different layers of air are moving at different speeds. When the upper layer of air is moving at a higher speed than the lower level air, it may form the top of an existing cloud layer into a wave-like rolling shape.
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Waterspouts
- Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water or move from land to water. Fair weather waterspouts are a less dangerous type of waterspout, they are very weak and only last a few minutes.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Waterspouts
- Sometimes waterspouts suck up fish and frogs from bodies of water before "raining" them down to the ground again. In 1957, thousands of small fish, frogs, and crayfish fell from the sky during a rainstorm in Alabama.
© Shutterstock
14 / 31 Fotos
White rainbows
- A white rainbow, or a fog bow, is similar to a rainbow but appears in foggy conditions rather than rain. When the sunlight passes through the fog water droplets, they appear white rather than colorful.
© Shutterstock
15 / 31 Fotos
Noctilucent clouds
- Noctilucent clouds are clouds of icy dust that form around 30 to 54 miles (50 to 86 kilometers) above the surface of the earth. They're seen at night time, on clear summer nights.
© Shutterstock
16 / 31 Fotos
Noctilucent clouds
- Noctilucent clouds may also be a warning sign of climate change because much of the moisture needed to form them comes from methane, a greenhouse gas. As methane pollution has increased, noctilucent clouds have become more common.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Ball lightning
- Ball lightning usually occurs near the ground during thunderstorms. Scientists aren't sure what causes ball lightning, but explanations include air or gas behaving abnormally and high-density plasma phenomena.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Morning glory clouds
- Morning glory clouds look like enormous tubes in the sky. They can measure up to 600 miles (965 kilometers) long and are most likely to be observed in Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria.
© Shutterstock
19 / 31 Fotos
Morning glory clouds
- It's thought that morning glory clouds are formed when an updraft of air pushes through the clouds, causing their distinctive tube-like appearance.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
Giant hailstones
- Large hailstones, or ice bombs, fall from the sky during severe thunderstorms. They’re formed from normal-sized hail that collects water droplets that freeze as they fall.
© Shutterstock
21 / 31 Fotos
Giant hailstones
- According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the world record for the largest hailstone belongs to an 8-inch (20.3 cm) hailstone that fell in South Dakota in 2010.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Mammatus clouds
- Mammatus clouds have a large water or ice content which creates their unique, bubble-like appearance. The presence of these clouds usually means severe weather is on the way.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Lenticular clouds
- Lenticular clouds form on the side of a mountain when moist air flows downwards and then stabilizes. While they appear calm, they're known for producing turbulence.
© Getty Images
24 / 31 Fotos
Supercells
- Supercells are a type of convective storm that consists of a rotating updraft called a mesocyclone. They often produce heavy hail, violent thunderstorms, and tornadoes.
© Shutterstock
25 / 31 Fotos
Supercells
- Supercells can occur anywhere in the world, but they're mostly found in the Great Plains area of the US, known as Tornado Alley.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Green flash
- Green flashes are an optical phenomenon that you can see shortly after sunset or before sunrise. They often take place over the sea, when light is refracted through layers of the lower atmosphere. The green flashes last only a moment or two.
© Shutterstock
27 / 31 Fotos
Sun halo
- Sun halos appear when ice crystals in thin cirrus clouds reflect sunlight, creating the illusion of a ring around the sun.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Sun dogs
- Like sun halos, sun dogs are formed when the sun is close to the horizon and there are thin cirrus clouds high in the sky. When the shafts of light are vertically aligned, they create sun dogs—spots of light that appear on either side of the sun.
© Shutterstock
29 / 31 Fotos
Sun dogs
- Sundogs were spotted across the midwest and northeast United States in January 2019 during a polar vortex (a large pocket of very cold air). Sources: (Science Focus) (Ovo Energy)
© Shutterstock
30 / 31 Fotos
Stunning pictures of the world's strangest and rarest weather phenomena
Rare weather events caught on camera
© Getty Images
As we know, the weather can be unpredictable and there's always something happening in the sky, be it a breathtaking sunset or a ferocious thunderstorm. However, some meteorological events would surprise the most seasoned weather watchers and even scientists. But what are they?
From fire tornadoes to sundogs, this gallery features some of the world's strangest and rarest weather events that were fortunately caught on camera. Curious? Click on and be amazed.
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