Halo around the Moon

For the first time in my life I say the Halo around the moon. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. It was early in the morning 2 weeks ago on Monday. It was around 6am and I was outside with my dog. It was cool morning and the sky was totally covered in clouds except for a huge circle around the moon. That was totally clear. I called my mom and she went outside to see it too. I couldn't stop staring at it. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out. Here is one above from the internet.

I looked it up and this is what I found... The ring around the Moon is caused by the refraction of Moonlight (which of course is reflected sunlight) from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, namely a hexagonal shape, the Moon ring is almost always the same size. Less typical are the halos that may be produced by different angles in the crystals. They can create halos with an angle of 46 degrees.

The Folklore says that a ring around the moon signifies bad weather is coming, and in many cases this may be true. So how can rings around the moon be a predictor of weather to come? The ice crystals that cover the halo signify high altitude, thin cirrus clouds that normally precede a warm front by one or two days. Typically, a warm front will be associated with a low pressure system which is commonly referred to as a storm.

It is believed that the number of stars within a moon halo indicate the number days before bad weather will arrive. I don't remember how many stars I saw, but I know that Jupiter was right on the ring. We have some cold weather coming next week, so we will see.

I also try to keep a watch on the skies and trees, but another good indicator is the animals. I watch the birds, my horses and closest to me are my cats. My one cat would go into the bathroom when a storm was coming. If it was going to be real bad she would get into the bathtub. I never really thought anything of it, but I really pay attention now. I only wish she was still here in her cat form with me now. I do miss her and all of my animals that have passed on. My horses point there butts in the direction of the eye of the storm. The birds either don't fly at all or fly very high.

This Halo was a beautiful sight and I would love to see it again. Keep an eye out early in the mornings because you wouldn't want to miss this.