Halo draws attention of thousands of St. Lucians

Thursday, April 15, 2010 – The effects of Thursday’s optical phenomenon has dissipated from the sky, however many Saint Lucians may have found the event to be memorable and unique.

Saint Lucians on Thursday, witnessed and questioned the ring of light appearing around the sun. For many who took time out to admire the day time sky and the sunset later the effect was one of visual appeal.

The GIS spoke to Senior Officer at the Hewannora Met Services Lucius Frederick on Thursday, and he confirmed that the occurrence was indeed an unusual sight.

“The phenomenon that we are experiencing is the result of the rays of the sun passing through clouds which consist mostly of ice crystals. The effect is that the ice crystal are dispersing the rays of the sun much as it would happen in a rainbow and we are getting this effect which is called a halo.”

Mr. Frederick said the ring around the sun and the moon is not to be mistaken with an eclipse but it is usually associated with a frontal trough.

'It happens on rare occasions. The cloud that causes this is a very high cloud and its called cirro-stratus; it does not come around with the ice crystals that often. This mostly happens when we have cold fronts penetrating deeply.”

The halo which appeared around the sun is called a corona.

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