NEW ORLEANS — The sun halo, a weather phenomenon that happens when light hits icy clouds at a certain angle, shined over New Orleans and southeast Louisiana on Thursday.
WWL Meteorologist Alexa Trischler was one of the people in Southeast Louisiana who spotted the halo. After taking a picture, she shared some background on the phenomenon.
"A sun halo happens when sun refracts off of high clouds in the atmosphere, known as cirrus clouds, which are made of ice crystals," Trischler said on Thursday. "Today we have a complete blanket of cirrus clouds -- more specifically cirrostratus clouds."
News Producer Devyn Keane also captured an image of the halo, while walking home from work on Thursday, saying it looked like a circular rainbow.
Ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus identified the phenomenon in the 300s BCE, when he said he believed the sun halo signaled a coming rain or storm. As far as New Orleans in the 21st Century CE though, the halo seems to only indicate the types of clouds in the sky -- which Trischler said should be gone by Friday. So take in the sun halo while you still can!
