16-BIT TAKES
Weather phenomena explained with 16-bit gaming references
Rarity and hazard ratings are informal editorial guides, not measured occurrence rates or official warnings. Local conditions determine actual risk.
Reports of luminous, ball-like objects near thunderstorms remain difficult to explain and study.
A blue or violet electrical glow around pointed objects in a strong atmospheric electric field.
An unusually large ocean wave, more than twice the height of surrounding waves.
Rotating columns of rising, fire-heated air that can carry flames, smoke and burning debris.
Damaging ice accumulation from freezing rain, coating roads, trees and exposed structures.
Small, intense downdrafts that spread damaging winds outward when they reach the ground.
Sources
Brief, often reddish flashes high above thunderstorms, sometimes shaped like columns or jellyfish.
Extremely brief, expanding rings of light in the upper atmosphere associated with lightning.
Long roll clouds marking atmospheric waves, famously observed around Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria.
Clouds formed in the extremely cold polar stratosphere; some show vivid pearly colours.
Rotating columns over water, including both tornadic and fair-weather varieties.
Rotating columns of air made visible by dust over strongly heated ground.
Sources
Lightning and thunder occurring while snow is falling.
Electrical discharges in an eruption plume containing ash and, in some cases, ice.
A brief green colour near the Sun’s upper edge around sunrise or sunset.
A broad, pale bow formed when light meets very small droplets in fog or mist.
Sources
Frequent thunderstorms around Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, known for intense nighttime lightning.
Round pieces of floating ice that can rotate slowly on the water.
Blade-like snow and ice formations found in dry, high mountain environments.
Bright, sometimes coloured spots to either side of the Sun, also called parhelia.
A colourful ice-crystal halo called a circumhorizontal arc, unrelated to fire.
Hollow ice tubes that grow downward beneath sea ice around a flow of cold, salty brine.
Tiny ice crystals falling from a clear sky, often visible as sparkles in sunlight.
An advancing wall of dust raised by thunderstorm outflow winds.
A sudden rise in temperature with drying and gusty winds near a weakening shower or thunderstorm.
Sources
Open a phenomenon’s details to learn more.