Weird and wonderful weather seems to be in season in Swift Current.
Yet another astronomical phenomenon has been documented, this time right in Swift Current.
Marcela Carrillo of Swift Current submitted the following images, which she captured at 7:30 a.m. this Friday.
The interesting part about these 'pillars of light', is that they are not in the sky. According to Terri Lang, meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, they actually originate on the ground and are not auroras.
"Aurora form way high up in the atmosphere, about 60 kilometres above the surface of the earth," informed Lang. "You can only see them when there are no clouds in the sky or very few clouds."
Lang pointed to the pillar being in front of the cloudy sky, not up and amongst them, or obscured by them in the images.
The lights are actually reflections from the same ice crystal formations that make up the sun dog formations. Since they are much lower, the pillars are actually reflections from street lights and other city sources.
"That's what forms the pillars," said Lang. "So if these ice crystals weren't there, [the pillars of light] wouldn't be there."
Before modern bright lights, these kinds of formations would have been all but impossible. They are a natural wonder that exists almost solely in our era of human history.
If you ever happen to grab a photo of an interesting or abnormal weather event, feel free to send it to us at news@swiftcurrentonline.com.