Finland has been treated to an extraordinary outburst of elliptical halos. Between 9 and 18 February, no less than five ellipses were seen, each on their own day. Four were in diamond dust, one in Altocumulus virga. For the diamond dust ones the temperature on the ground – as informed by the observer or the nearest weather station – was -12...-16 C (10...3 F), which is neatly in the range where elliptical halos are expected to occur.
This surge is all the more dramatic because it comes after a hiatus of over two years, stretching back to a lunar ellipse seen in January 2019. Below are shown four of these fresh sightings. For more photos, and the one case that is not displayed here, look in Taivaanvahti:
https://www.taivaanvahti.fi/observations/browse/onlyPics/3761269/observation_start_time/desc/0/20
18. Feb., Ritva Jyrkkä, Kuhmo
17 Feb., Marko Riikonen, Rovaniemi. Ac virga. A stack of four photos taken in 28 seconds.
12 Feb., Markku Siljama, Mäntyharju
Those are beautiful! I myself have not gotten any yet.
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