Sometimes Mother Nature surprises us. Ball lightning and fire tornadoes, red rains and frogs falling from the sky make many wonder. The strangest weather phenomena and what is behind them are in our selection.
Fire tornado
They are also called fire tornadoes or devils. This is a rare phenomenon in which the flames form a tornado-like vortex. Firestorms form in two ways: when a tornado orbits too close to a forest fire, or when there is a strong concentration of heat in a small area. They are usually caused by forest fires. Like tornadoes, fire whirlwinds vary in size and duration; however, they usually last no more than a few minutes.
This weather phenomenon is extremely dangerous. In 1923, a whirlwind of fire broke out during the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan and killed 38,000 people.
Giant hail
Extremely large hailstones, sometimes referred to as ice bombs, usually appear during severe thunderstorms and shatter into smaller pieces on impact. The largest ice bomb recorded weighed 36 kg.
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Fireball
Stories about ball lightning - balls of light that periodically float through the air during thunderstorms - go back centuries. These glowing balls come in a variety of sizes, do not emit heat and make almost no noise.
An electrical charge reproduced in laboratory conditions.
Scientific information about ball lightning is very scarce, due to the rarity of the phenomenon and its unpredictability, but laboratory experiments have produced an effect that visually resembles the electric balls floating through the air that are sometimes seen in nature.
Animal rain
Of course, dogs and cats rarely fall from the sky, but showers of frogs and fish are known. These rare meteorological phenomena have occurred in many countries, many in recent years. The animals that most often fall from the sky are fish, frogs and birds, but there have been reports of rain of worms and spiders.
Fish dropped from the sky in Northern Australia 25-26 February 2010; a downpour of frogs took place in Hungary from 18 to 20 June 2010; worm rainfall irrigated Jennings, Louisiana On July 11, 2007, fish rained in the Mexican city of Tampico last September.
Some of these incidents occur after tornadoes or storms. Scientists speculate that weather systems pick up animals and transport them several kilometers. However, there were a few rains from animals that happened in good weather.
Red sprites
Pilots have reported colored flashes of light firing from the tops of storm clouds for years, but the existence of this strange lightning was only confirmed in 1989. Red sprites are flashes of red light that soar up to 100 km above the top of a cloud during a thunderstorm. Blue jets are similar to red sprites, but negatively charged and appear as cones of blue light below in the atmosphere.
Colored rain
Colored rain has fallen on the planet for centuries and comes in a wide variety of shades - from reds and yellows to black and milky white. In 2011, there were reports of scarlet, green, yellow, brown and black rain in southern India. The strange coloration of the precipitation was caused by algal spores trapped in the air.
In fact, many substances can create rain of different colors. In Europe, red precipitation is usually colored by dust carried by dust storms from the Sahara. Pollen can create yellow rains, while dust from coal mines can create black ones.
St. Elmo's lights
This is a static electrical weather phenomenon that occurs during thunderstorms and rushes up tall objects. The phenomenon is named after Saint Elmo, the patron saint of sailors, as it often appears on the masts of ships. Since ancient times, sailors have reported balls of fire dancing on board and climbing the masts.
Waterspout
Also known as water devil. This is a vortex above the water, which is usually formed by rain clouds. The phenomenon is common in tropical areas where thunderstorms are frequent. Although they form above water, waterspouts do not suck out water - condensed droplets formed by condensation collect in a tube-like cloud.
Waterspouts sometimes emit hissing or gurgling sounds, and this, combined with their appearance, may explain some of the sightings of "sea monsters".