Storm chaser describes ‘prettiest winter pictures’ he’s ever taken

An icy winter wonderland in the Sauerland region of Germany, also contains a wide breadth of great examples of atmospheric optics.

“This might have been one of the prettiest winter pictures I’ve ever taken,” Wouter van Bernebeek, a storm chaser from the Netherlands said on Facebook on Dec.11, 2022. The photo, showing an icy winter wonderland in the Sauerland region of Germany, also contains a wide breadth of great examples of atmospheric optics.

Among them, a 46-degree halo, a 22-degree halo with parhelion (sun dogs), and an upper tangent arc. Ice crystals help these types of optical phenomena take shape in the atmosphere. On this particular day, temperatures ranged from 5 to 14 F (10 degrees C below zero to 15 degrees C below zero). Van Bernebeek confirmed there was frozen fog on trees and “ice needles,” also known as “diamond dust” in the air on the day the photo was taken. He uploaded additional amazing photos and videos from that day to his YouTube channel.

Sauerland is an expansive tourist area in Germany, but is sparsely populated. There are over 19,000 miles (30,000 km) of hiking trails and many resorts that attract visitors year-round.