Region gets rare winter treat in 'sundog'

The Texas Panhandle experienced a "sundog" Wednesday morning, the first time residents have seen the atmospheric phenomenon since 2011.

On Thursday, an amarillo .com reader in Canadian submitted a photo of the sundog - an orb of light surrounding the sun with two bright prism-like arches on either side.

This image was evidence of the first sundog the region has witnessed since Feb. 9, 2011, when several readers also submitted photos.

Sundogs "appear when conditions are just right," National Weather Service Amarillo meteorologist Kurt Buffalo told the Amarillo Globe-News in 2011.

Sundogs generally are best viewed on a clear morning just after sunrise, he said. Conditions that generate sundogs include high winds and blowing snow that sweep ice crystals into the air.

Sound familiar?

A halo of light is created when the sun refracts through the crystals suspended in the air, much like light reflecting through suspended moisture to create a rainbow. Although sundogs may be seen at sunset, they most frequently appear at sunrise and are highly visible for about an hour.

Regions that get more snow and cold likely will see more of the phenomenon than drier areas, Buffalo said.

Named in the 1600s and cited by the likes of Aristotle and Shakespeare, a sundog also is known as a parhelion - or a mock sun - according to the National Weather Service website.

Two colored luminous spots appear at roughly 22 degrees on both sides of the sun at the same elevation. Colors close to the sun are red and change to blue or violet farther from the sun.