Noctilucent clouds outburst strongest in 15 years, NLCs seen as far south as Washington State and Oregon
A sharp spike in the frequency of noctilucent clouds was detected at the end of June 2022. This is the largest NLCs spike in the last 15 years.
Major outbreak of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) over Europe
A major outbreak of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) was reported over Europe, including France, Spain, Germany. NLCs over these latitudes are considered rare, according to night sky enthusiasts, as these clouds are typically seen over higher latitudes. Last week, NLCs…
2021 noctilucent clouds (NLC) season starts earlier than expected
Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) have been spotted over Poland, Czech Republic, Canada, and Scotland, among other countries, on May 25 and 26, marking an early start to the northern hemisphere's 2021 NLC season. The clouds are rapidly intensifying. In only four days…
Rare dark red noctilucent clouds appear over Sweden
Rare dark red noctilucent clouds appeared over Vallentuna, Sweden on July 25, 2020, and were recorded by P-M Heden. This type of NLCs is rare and not fully understood, Dr. Tony Phillips of the SpaceWeather.com reports. Research in the 1970s revealed that much of the…
Record cold in mesosphere causes noctilucent clouds to spill out of Arctic into mid-latitudes
Temperatures at the mesosphere have been breaking 14-year records over the past few days, according to Lynn Harvey of the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. This causes noctilucent clouds to spill across the Arctic and descend to…
Early start of the 2020 noctilucent cloud (NLC) season
The Northern Hemisphere noctilucent cloud (NLC) season has officially begun. The first cloud was detected by NASA's AIM spacecraft inside the Arctic Circle on May 17. The detection marks one of the earliest starts in the 14-year history of the spacecraft. …
2020 northern hemisphere NLC season forecast
Public interest for noctilucent clouds rose sharply in 2019 after record-setting outbreak across the northern hemisphere. The 2020 season is expected to start mid- to late-May or early June, but at the moment, it doesn't seem like 2020 will be a repeat of 2019….
Record-setting noctilucent clouds, NLCs seen over San Francisco Bay Area, California
Sky watchers in the San Francisco Bay Area, California witnessed an extraordinary display of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) on June 9, 2019. As these clouds are typically confined to latitudes above +55 N and San Francisco is at +38 N, this marks one of the…
2019 northern hemisphere noctilucent clouds season starts unusually strong
The 2019 northern hemisphere noctilucent cloud season has begun unusually strong. Electric-blue clouds were first observed by NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft on May 20, marking the official start of the season. "For the past 2…
Solar minimum brings prolonged 2018 noctilucent clouds season
The northern hemisphere 2018 noctilucent clouds season is still going strong this August, with four times more NLC reports than in the same period in 2017. "Something unusual is happening in Earth's upper atmosphere," Dr. Tony Phillips of the…