RICHFIELD, Ohio — What appears to be like something straight from a Sci-Fi movie, columns of light beaming upward toward the dark sky were a mesmerizing sight Wednesday.
This weather phenomenon called light pillars typically occur on cold, winter mornings when temperatures are a bitter 10 degrees or less.
"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," according to the National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
News 5 photojournalist Mike Vielhaber braved the cold and captured this dazzling sight Wednesday. When he took this photo in Richfield, his car thermometer read 3 degrees.
One of the best cold weather phenomenon showed up overnight in Richfield. Light Pillars form on cold calm nights. I see them here occasionally when they form in the area trucking company lights. It's 3° here according to my car. pic.twitter.com/LbCBoMoxH6
— Mike Vielhaber (@MVielhaber) February 17, 2021
They're commonly seen when flat, hexagonal-shaped ice crystals reflect city lights. The crystals are usually found in higher-level clouds, but when the air is very cold, they float much closer to the ground, the NWS said.
Vielhaber captured light pillars at the same location in 2017.
Here's the same spot from 2017...these were better than today's show. https://t.co/DRWCgGWUSE
— Mike Vielhaber (@MVielhaber) February 17, 2021
The NWS in North Platte, Nebraska captured light pillars earlier this month.
Check out these light pillars our meteorologist Bill Taylor captured tonight in North Platte. #NEwx pic.twitter.com/USwYS9mFyb
— NWS North Platte (@NWSNorthPlatte) February 8, 2021
To find a good source for a light pillar sighting, your best bet is to travel a few miles outside of your city on a dark, cold night.
Click here to view our interactive radar.
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