Sun Pillar

There are advantages to cold weather. We had two examples today; a sun pillar and sun dogs. They appeared this morning as the sun inched upward in the southeastern sky. The temperature was near zero as the pillar shown brightly, piercing the snow covered Iowa prairie. Sun pillars occur when sunlight reflects off ice crystals. The crystals are shaped like hexagonal plates and are slowly falling like leaves through the atmosphere. The result was this picturesque pillar.

Sun Pillar, Cedar FAlls, Iowa 2-8-2019

Sun Pillar, Photos copyright 2019, Craig Johnson