Buzz
The natural world often surprises us in ways we don't fully appreciate. While we may stop to admire a colorful sunset or marvel at some impressive cloud formations, we tend to overlook the truly astonishing phenomena happening around us. That's unfortunate, because nature has plenty of jaw-dropping wonders beyond sunsets and clouds. For example:
10. Volcanic Lightning
If you were asked to name the two most awe-inspiring natural wonders, you'd probably say 'volcanoes and lightning.' Or maybe 'lightning and volcanoes'—but the order doesn't matter because those are the undisputed top two. Nature, however, isn’t content with just being great. It constantly comes up with new ways to astonish us, like bringing volcanic lightning into existence.
Indeed, it’s exactly what it sounds like—a lightning storm that erupts in the midst of a volcanic explosion. While scientists don’t have the full answer, the leading theory suggests that when a volcano erupts, it sends positively charged particles into the air. These particles then interact with the already existing negative charges in the atmosphere, triggering a lightning bolt and creating a stunning natural spectacle.
9. Brinicles
When sea surfaces freeze, like in the polar regions, the process causes pockets of extremely cold, salty seawater to form beneath the ice. This briny water is denser than the surrounding seawater, so it sinks. As it descends, the colder water below the brine freezes around it, forming an impressive icy stalactite hanging under the surface. Scientists call it an ‘ice stalactite,’ but that term doesn’t do justice to such an incredible phenomenon. That’s why we call it a ‘brinicle’—a perfect mash-up of two familiar words.
8. Penitentes
Here’s another fascinating ice phenomenon, but this time high in the mountains, far from the underwater world. These sharp, spiky ice formations are called penitentes, and some of them can rise as high as 13 feet (4 meters). These striking snow structures form in high-altitude regions with dry conditions, like the glaciers of the Andes. Under the right conditions, the sun’s intense rays are so powerful that they can sublimate fields of snow—meaning the frozen water turns directly into vapor without ever becoming liquid. This creates tiny pockets in the ice, and those pockets, due to their shape, absorb even more heat. The resulting sharp spikes are simply the parts of the snow that escaped complete vaporization.
7. Supercells
If Superman is a more powerful, flight-capable version of an ordinary man, then a supercell is a more powerful, tornado-producing version of a regular storm cell. Like tornadoes, supercells tend to spin, but more importantly, they have the ability to generate tornadoes. If there’s one thing you should remember from reading this, let it be this: steer clear of anything that can do that.
Just to clarify, supercells are the deadliest and most terrifying of all major storm types. Fortunately, they are also the rarest and typically occur only in the central United States during spring. If you happen to encounter one, wherever you may be, remember the advice from the previous paragraph: head in the opposite direction.
6. Fire Rainbows
These vibrant phenomena are most commonly seen during summer in mid-latitude regions, including much of the United States. What they really are is a massive halo of refracted sunlight. Despite their name, they have nothing to do with fire or rainbows. Fire rainbows appear only when the sun is at least 58 degrees above the horizon, and cirrus clouds are present, filled with flat, plate-shaped ice crystals. The refracted light aligns parallel to the horizon, and since the arcs are so vast, only parts of them are visible at a time. This can make it seem like certain sections of the clouds are on fire—or possibly even throwing a party. The scientific name for this phenomenon, should you ever wish to impress a researcher, is ‘circumhorizontal arc.’
5. Sun Dogs
Here’s another atmospheric phenomenon involving ice crystals. Like fire rainbows, sun dogs are vast halos formed by the refraction of light. In this case, the halo appears to circle the sun itself. Sun dogs can be spotted by the two bright spots on either side of the halo—sometimes so bright that it can seem like there are three suns in the sky, perfectly aligned. The good news is that sun dogs are common and can be observed anywhere in the world, especially when the sun is low in the sky. Just keep in mind that staring directly at the sun for too long could result in permanent blindness, so be careful!
4. Waterspouts
Waterspouts are exactly what you might imagine: tornadoes over water, and they’re just as incredible as they sound. Though they don’t usually pose a significant risk unless you're on a boat, be cautious, as these powerful funnels can reach speeds of up to 190 miles per hour (305 kilometers per hour). It's even been suggested that some infamous shipwrecks, like those in the Bermuda Triangle, could be the result of unfortunate encounters with waterspouts. They can form anywhere over water but are particularly common in the Florida Keys, where there can be up to 400 or 500 waterspouts a year.
3. Frost Flowers
To put it simply, frost flowers are ice formations that look like delicate flowers. However, to be more precise, they’re actually intricate ice structures that form around the base of certain plants and types of wood. When the temperature outside drops below freezing but the temperature inside the plant remains higher, water is drawn to the surface in a way similar to transpiration. This causes a thin chain of ice to form and grow outward, creating these fragile, expansive shapes. They may not technically be flowers—more like ice leaves—but they’re just as beautiful and twice as fascinating.
2. Columnar Basalt
At some point, basalt took a long look at itself and realized that if it wanted to stand out among nature’s coolest (us), it would need to level up. So, much like the overlooked girl who’s secretly stunning when she removes her glasses, basalt revealed its full potential—by forming itself into columns.
At first glance, columns might not seem all that impressive—columns aren’t exactly known for their excitement. However, when they come together into an expansive honeycomb-like structure, this type of basalt becomes a truly mesmerizing sight. These formations happen when lava cools and cracks in a direction perpendicular to its flow. Columnar basalt clusters are found all around the world—and, naturally, people climb them.
1. Snow Donuts
Do you remember when you were a kid, and the first thing you’d do after a snowstorm was roll up a giant snowball? You either threw it at someone’s face or made a snowman with it (depending on what type of kid you were), but that’s not the part of the memory that matters right now. The real magic is that nature has its own version of snowballs: snow donuts. These rare forms appear only under perfect temperature conditions when snow falls or is blown by the wind. If the snow happens to catch on to another patch, and gravity or the wind plays in its favor, it will roll just like the snowballs we used to make. However, in this case, the middle collapses, forming a donut shape, which can reach up to 26 inches (66 centimeters) tall.
