When you’ve had enough Wyoming winter, and you’re cursing the cold, nature comes along and shows that something good can come out of every circumstance. In the case of plummeting temperatures, for example, they are necessary to create a beautiful, mind-blowing natural phenomenon most people have never heard of or seen. Only a few places have the perfect combination of circumstances for this incredible event to occur, and Wyoming is one of them.

Some night when the temperature is extra cold, take a look out your window. You just might witness an otherworldly sight you've never seen before.
Van Lochem, E.P./Flickr
If the conditions are just right, you might see rainbow-colored pillars of light shooting up from the city into the night sky.
Isabelle Marchione/YouTube
It doesn't happen here every winter, but it has occurred more than once. That's because Wyoming is practically made for this phenomenon. First, the temperature has to drop below zero.
Joe deSousa/Flickr
Seriously, that happens practically every week!

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Usually, an event like this takes place after a snowstorm, when there's still moisture in the air. The sudden drop in temperature turns the lingering moisture into ice crystals.
Alexey Kljatov/Flickr
Not just any ice crystals will do the trick, though. They must be diagonally-shaped hexagonal ice crystals.
Typically, the perfect ice crystals aren't so close to the ground. They're usually at a higher level, in the clouds.
Stephen Rahn/Flickr
When they do form at a lower level and hang in the air where city lights can reflect through them, the result is a spectacular light show, similar to lasers being shot into the sky.
Powhusku/Flickr
Getting in on Nature's light show almost makes the cold weather worth it.

Have you ever seen stunning light pillars shoot up through the Wyoming night sky in winter? What other natural phenomena have you experienced that is unique to the Cowboy State?

Maybe it’s because winters are so long around here, but a lot of miraculous incidents seem to happen during our coldest season, like this odd event that has to be seen to be believed.

 

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