Northern Illinois Witnessed a Very Strange Weather Phenomena This Morning

What exactly are these? If you were up early this morning you may have witnessed a rare weather event.

Sometimes it pays to get up very early on a very cold sunny winter day. Earlier Wednesday morning residents witnessed large beams of light rising from out of the ground. It is a very unique and rare weather phenomena known as a "sundog."

According to the National Weather Service a sundog or glowing arc occurs:

on either side of the sun, are formed when sunlight refracts off ice crystals in the atmosphere. Often these are seen high in the sky, but on cold winter mornings like today they can be near the horizon.

Here's another view of this morning's sundog

We're you lucky enough to witness this?

Catch Mark Charvat on Q98.5 from 3 p.m to 7 p.m. Follow him on Twitter, and Facebook