Photos: Rare 120 White Parhelia, Other Ice Halos

There have been a number of interesting photos of ice halos uploaded to the AccuWeather.com Photo Gallery this week. The most interesting was the rare 120-degree White Parhelia, of which I had never seen a photo. And that's saying a lot, being a meteorologist and photo enthusiast I've seen a lot of strange stuff. I had to actually email Les over at Atmospheric Optics who gave me a link to a similar picture and explanation of the phenomenon.

Unlike Sun Dogs (Parhelia) which are colored bright spots near the sun (recent photos shown below), the bright spot is white and appears far from the sun for 120 Degree White Parhelia.

And finally we have a great example of a common Circumzenith Arc, which appears above the sun, another phenomenon that I have not photographed.