TOP-BEST Photo Essay - Unusual Natural Phenomena and Where to Witness Them

 

Photo Essay - Unusual Natural Phenomena and Where to Witness Them

Sarah Park brings us some of the most dangerous, beautiful, and downright weird wonders of the natural world.

1. Red Tide

When ocean, air, and temperature conditions are just right, ocean phytoplankton reproduce like bunnies, creating a thick, visible layer near the surface. These algae blooms — a.k.a “red tides” — might look disgusting during the day, but in parts of California and other places where the bioluminescent variety of Noctiluca scintillans bloom, red tide nights look out of this world.

   

This particular variety of phytoplankton glows blue when agitated, transforming the dark ocean into a giant lava lamp. Watch as the waves light up as they crash, run across the sand to see the ground glow under your feet, or dive in to be surrounded by the bizarre Timex-y glow.

The N. scintillans is also the culprit behind the Bioluminescent Bays in Puerto Rico.

  2. Foxfire

Bioluminescence doesn’t just occur in the water. During the late summer months, a faint and eerie glow can also be seen from forests around the world, where bioluminescent mushrooms grow on moist, rotting bark.

Foxfire has been witnessed worldwide, but the greatest diversity occurs in the tropics, where moist forests encourage fungi growth. The newest varieties of glow-in-the-dark mushrooms were introduced to the world just last year, after being collected from Ribeira Valley Tourist State Park near Sao Paulo, Brazil

To up your chances of seeing this one, hunt in the forest during its wettest season and move as far as possible away from any light sources that may outshine the faint glow. And if you do happen to come across a patch of glowing shrooms, don’t even think about it — they’re not that kind of mushroom

   

3. Fire Rainbow

Another summertime occurrence, fire rainbows occur when sunlight hits frozen ice crystals in high-altitude cirrus clouds. Because the fire rainbow actually involves no rain at all, scientists would rather we refer to this occurrence by its much less fun, but much more accurate title: the circumhorizonal arc.

Since the arc requires both the presence of cirrus clouds and for the sun to be extremely high in the sky, it’s much more likely to be seen at latitudes closer to the equator. Conditions might be right for a fire rainbow in Los Angeles six months out of the year, but in a more northern city like London, that window drops to a mere two months. The photo above was taken in West Virginia.  

4. Nacreous Clouds

For those of you a bit farther away from the equator, there’s still plenty to see in the sky. Nacreous clouds (also called mother-of-pearl clouds) are extremely rare, but unmistakeable in the dark hours before dawn or after sunset. Because of their extremely high altitudes, they reflect sunlight from below the horizon, shining it brightly down onto viewers below, in stark comparison to the regular ol’ dark clouds in the troposphere.

The lower stratosphere, where nacreous clouds live, is so dry that it often prevents cloud formation, but the extreme cold of polar winters make this beautiful phenomenon possible. Captured best during winter at high latitudes, nacreous clouds have been spotted in Iceland, Alaska, Northern Canada, and very rarely, farther south in England.  

5. Snow Rollers

Snow rollers are formed when a thick layer of snow falls on top of a layer of ice. If the temperature and wind speed are right, chunks of snow can break loose and start rolling. As they’re blown along the ground like wintry tumbleweeds, they pick up additional snow along the way. The inner layers are often weaker and less compact, allowing them to be blown easily away by the wind, leaving a large, naturally formed snow donut.

Because of the precise temperature and wind speeds required to create this effect, snow rollers are a rare sight, but have made headlines with their appearances in parts of North American and the UK.   

6. Columnar Basalt

A natural volcanic formation, columnar basalt has a seemingly man-made appearance. The (mostly) hexagonal columns formed naturally as thick lava cooled rapidly, contracting and creating cracks in the surface of the new rock.

These unusual geological formations can be seen across the globe. Two of the most notable examples include the Giant’s Causewyin Ireland, and Devil’s Postpil in California (pictured above).   

7. Raining Animals

While the small Honduran town of Yoro celebrates the Lluvia de Peces, or “rain of fish” each year, actual eyewitness accounts of the main event are lacking. The phenomenon as a whole, however, has been reported in locations worldwide for centuries. Most cases of animals falling from the sky involve fish, frogs, or other small aquatic animals, though much grosser reports of birds, mice, and even chunks of flesh have been recorded.

Despite being extremely rare, most incidents are readily explainable. Waterspouts — think tornadoes made of water — are generally the go-to culprit, as their high winds are capable of lifting small animals out of the water, carrying them far distances before dropping them unceremoniously on your head.

If waterspouts are the most common source of animal rain, I’d recommend heading closer to large bodies of water during an extremely heavy storm to increase odds of bearing witness to this truly bizarre phenomenon. But, seriously, bring a poncho or something.   

8. Asperatus Clouds

A newly discovered cloud formation, asperatus clouds are so rare they managed to escape classification until 2009. Ominous and stormy as they appear, these clouds often break up rather quickly, without producing a storm. As with most other undulating cloud types, these clouds are formed when turbulent winds or colliding air masses mercilessly whip up the bottoms of the cloud layer into fancy shapes and formations.

More common in the plains of the United States (try Iowa), asperatus clouds are at their weird and swirly best during the morning or midday hours after a thunderstorm.