Share
News

As Bone-Chilling Cold Front Hits United States, Americans Are Reporting This Strange and Haunting Phenomenon

Share

A thick, warm blanket. A crackling fireplace. A piping mug of hot cocoa.

And … light pillars?

As a mid-February cold front refuses to release much of the United States from its clutches, many Americans are no doubt reacquainting themselves with all coping mechanisms they use to deal with sub-freezing temperatures.

While light pillars won’t keep you physically warm, they may brighten your day or night — as they have for residents across the country recently.

Trending:
Hillary Clinton Jumps Into Trump 'Bloodbath' Frenzy with a Question, Doesn't Want to Hear the Answers

You may have already seen them — the majestic, shining columns of light beaming up from the oft-snow-covered Earth to the heavens.

So what exactly is this optical wonder that’s been reported in multiple states, including Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania?

“Light pillars are an optical phenomenon caused when light is refracted by ice crystals. These lights tend to take on the color of the light source,” AccuWeather reported in 2017.

“They appear as beams of light to the observer. It is usually caused by street lights. However, any source of light can create a light pillar given proper conditions,” AccuWeather meteorologist David Samuhel said at the time.

Usually, they occur farther north than the U.S.

Related:
Untold Number of People Trapped at Site of Great American Tragedy

“I believe people have not heard nearly as much about light pillars due to the fact they are mostly observed in very cold climates where few people live,” Samuhel said.

There are two main prerequisites that must normally be met in order for light pillars to be visible: The air must be extremely cold and extremely calm, CNN reported.

“These pillars typically occur on cold, winter mornings when the temperatures are colder than 10°F,” the U.S. National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wisconsin, wrote on Facebook in January 2020.

Have you seen a "light pillar" in person yet?

“On these mornings, plate-shaped ice crystals, normally only present in high clouds, float in the air close to the ground and their horizontal facets reflect light back downwards.”

“The pillars are not physically over the lights or anywhere else in space for that matter – like all halos they are purely the collected light beams from all the millions of crystals which just happen to be reflecting light toward your eyes or camera.”

Who knows? Depending on where you live, this optical wonder may be coming soon to a snow day near you.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , ,
Share
Joe Setyon was a deputy managing editor for The Western Journal who had spent his entire professional career in editing and reporting. He previously worked in Washington, D.C., as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine.
Joe Setyon was deputy managing editor for The Western Journal with several years of copy editing and reporting experience. He graduated with a degree in communication studies from Grove City College, where he served as managing editor of the student-run newspaper. Joe previously worked as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine, a libertarian publication in Washington, D.C., where he covered politics and wrote about government waste and abuse.
Birthplace
Brooklyn, New York
Topics of Expertise
Sports, Politics




Conversation