The weather over Christmas break in West River country was mostly low cloud overcast with some thick fog on Christmas day and and into the evening. The morning of December 26th dawned clear, cold and windy. Luckily the wind wasn't strong enough to knock all the hoarfrost down right away so I had fun getting some images while freezing my tail off. Later in the morning, the wind picked up and the ice crystals that fell from the trees and power lines soon created some of the most pronounced sundogs I have seen. There were nearly full circles around the low hanging sun. The photos don't really do the sight justice, but I tried to capture a few of the best ones I saw over the course of an hour or so. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for dropping by.
A prairie dirt road vanishes into the low, fog on Christmas morning.
Thick hoarfrost adorns a gatepost on the open prairie near Isabel, South Dakota.
An unused barn framed by frosted weeds stands out starkly on the white prairie. Notice the moon in the middle right above the barn's sloping roof.
Just so you get a sense of the true color, here is the original photo of the shot above.
A frosted yucca plant sits high on a ridge overlooking the Moreau River breaks in the distance.
Three sundog photos taken within an hour of each other in different locations. The phenomena was stronger on the higher hills between river valleys.
