I was out on the road in the high howling winds yesterday and saw swirling columns of snow that reminded me of dust devils. "What are they called?" I wondered aloud to my driving companion who had pointed them out to me. He dubbed them "snow dogs". I like snow dog much better than snow tornado or snow devil (which terminology I have subsequently found).


Howling with joy
Annette Marie Hyder

Frisky winds — snow dogs —
chase their tails in circles
never quite catching them

but get my breath instead
caught in delight at the play.


"Look how the wind has the snow pasted on the cars," he said as we passed parked cars. And the word paste made me think of the wind as a preschooler making a mess and spreading its art efforts all over the city — the city as a huge refrigerator door covered with the wind's work.

If you love posts about Minnesota weather, like I do, then check out this blog I came across: Paul Douglas Weather Column

The accompanying photos are fun. I like the "Old Fashioned Minnesota Refrigerator" , "Gotta Have My Latte" , and "The Roads Are Wicked Slippery" , among others.

And finally, did you know that there is such a thing as a sundog? I've seen this atmospheric phenomenon myself, here in Minnesota. From Wikipedia:

A sun dog or sundog (scientific name parhelion, plural parhelia, from Greek parēlion, (παρήλιον), παρά(beside) + ήλιος(sun), "beside the sun"; also called a mock sun) is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.

Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.

Aristotle (Meteorology III.2, 372a14) notes that "two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day until sunset." He says that "mock suns" are always to the side, never above or below, most commonly at sunrise or sunset, more rarely in the middle of the day.

The poet Aratus (Phaenomena 880-891) mentions parhelia as part of his catalog of Weather Signs; for him, they can indicate rain, wind, or an approaching storm.

A passage in Cicero's On the Republic (54-51 BC) is one of many by Greek and Roman authors who refer to sun dogs and similar phenomena:

Be it so, said Tubero; and since you invite me to discussion, and present the opportunity, let us first examine, before any one else arrives, what can be the nature of the parhelion, or double sun, which was mentioned in the senate. Those that affirm they witnessed this prodigy are neither few nor unworthy of credit, so that there is more reason for investigation than incredulity.

Read more here .