Arctic’s 40-year record low temperatures spawn rare clouds

Arctic’s 40-year record low temperatures spawn rare clouds

NASA’s MERRA-2 climate model reveals that the Arctic stratosphere has reached a 40-year record low for December, creating a sudden appearance of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) far beyond their usual Arctic confines.

Very rare Polar Stratospheric Clouds Type II appear over Scandinavia

Very rare Polar Stratospheric Clouds Type II appear over Scandinavia

Northern regions of Scandinavia were treated to a very rare high-altitude spectacle on January 17, 2022, photographer Adrien Mauduit reports. For about 2 hours, rare polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) type II appeared out of nowhere, displaying a staggering…

Polar Stratospheric Clouds form over Sweden

Polar Stratospheric Clouds form over Sweden

Polar stratospheric clouds, reported on December 9, 2016, over the skies of Kiruna, Sweden, indicate the stratosphere above the Arctic Circle is getting very cold. Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) form from the icy particles in the lower stratosphere, in extremely…

Strong ozone depletion expected over Arctic in the coming weeks

Strong ozone depletion expected over Arctic in the coming weeks

POLSTRAC campaign initiated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) was actively engaged in measurements in Arctic since the end of 2015. The research team has observed vertically extended polar stratospheric clouds, in unusually low regions of the…

Ozone hole behind colorful nacreous clouds over the UK and Ireland

Ozone hole behind colorful nacreous clouds over the UK and Ireland

Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) are appearing over the United Kingdom and Ireland since January 31, 2016. An extremely rare occurrence for this area, usually restricted to the Arctic Circle, has been photographed by numerous skywatchers. According to experts, the…

Nacreous clouds appear around the Arctic Circle

Nacreous clouds appear around the Arctic Circle

Sky watchers are observing an outbreak of polar stratospheric clouds or PSCs around the Arctic Circle, SpaceWeather reports. Unlike normal grey-white clouds, which hug Earth's surface at altitudes of only 5 to 10 km (3.1 – 6.2 miles), PSCs float through the…