Sundogs and Birds

December has been an odd month for temperatures in the Interior of Alaska. From December 1st through December 20th, it was one of the warmest December's on record. Since school was dismissed for the Christmas break on December 21st, North Pole has experienced below normal temperatures of 20 below and colder. As a result, Mike and I were able to witness a cold weather phenomena, sundogs.

Sundogs are made commonly of plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or, during very cold weather, by ice crystals called diamond dust drifting in the air at low levels. These crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection

Along with the sundog we were able to view, Mike and I have been watching the birds in our backyard who have been trying to keep warm by eating copious amounts of bird seed!