The Sun halo, a harbinger of stormy weather. A ring of light enwraps the Sun/Yokohama

Translated from the original article at: http://news.kanaloco.jp/localnews/article/1201190023/

January 20, 2012

A Sun halo discovered in Yokohama=Photographed on the rooftop of the Kanagawa Newspaper Office at 11:30AM

On the 19^th in the city of Yokohama, a Sun halo (a ring of light completely enveloping the Sun) was discovered.

This illusionary phenomenon is a sort of "People Tricker." Appearing 5000 to 1300 meters (3.1 to 6.4 miles) upwards in the sky are Cirrostratus clouds shaped in what's called a "veil form".

"Because of the accumulation of crystallized ice in Cirrostratus clouds, light is being bent and distorted, thus a circle can be seen surrounding the sun. It's said that upon seeing a Sun halo on a nice day, one should be worried about the weather," said the Yokohama Meteorological Observatory.

Original text:

荒天の前触れ「日暈」、太陽が光の輪に包まれる/横浜

2012年1月20日

横浜で見られた日暈＝午前11時半、神奈川新聞社屋上で撮影

横浜市内で19日、太陽がすっぽりと光の輪に包まれる日暈（ひがさ）が見られた。

この幻想的な現象の“仕掛け人”は、高度５千～１万３千メートルの上空に現れる巻層雲と呼ばれるベール状の雲。

「巻層雲は氷の結晶が集まったもので、氷が光を屈折させ、太陽の周りに円を見せる。日暈が見えると天気が崩れるといわれています」と横浜地方気象台。