Ontario has endured polar vortex, thundersnow and soon crop sweat

[A lid-like dome of heat and corn crops putting more moisture into an already humid air in Southwestern Ontario are creating a weather phenomenon called crop sweat. PIXABY.COM]

Suffering through the heat in Ontario right now? Well, then you won’t be glad to hear that an oddly named weather phenomenon called crop sweat is not going to help things.

The combination of a so-called heat dome over Southwestern Ontario and the moisture that fast-growing corn crops are putting in the air is going to push the region’s temperatures even higher this weekend, the National Post reported Tuesday.

But while crop sweat certainly sounds strange, it’s not the only weather phenomenon with a catchy name. Here’s an explanation of six others along with the one that will have you cranking your AC on Saturday if you live in Southwestern Ontario.

Crop sweat

The term crop sweat is actually very literal. Corn crops in Southwestern Ontario are currently in a phase of rapid growth, the Post reported. That means they’re putting more moisture into air that is already very humid through a process called evapotranspiration. When you add in the fact that a lid-like dome of heat is moving eastward towards the region you get high temperatures with a lot of sticky humidity. A crop sweat was also responsible for an American heat wave in 2011, according to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Thundersnow

Who could forget the thundersnow that hit Canada and the United States earlier this year and in 2015, and the excellent social media jokes that resulted? This scary sounding winter weather is exactly what it sounds like: thunder during a snowstorm instead of a rainstorm. It occurs when the thunderstorm process — when surface heating creates an upward atmospheric motion — results in snow instead of rain, USA Today reported. It’s usually associated with heavy snowfall and occurs most often around lakes, but it’s a relatively rare weather phenomenon because it requires upward-moving air (convection) and that’s rare in winter.

Haboob

This weather phenomenon is not a particularly pleasant one. A haboob is an intense, stormy wall of dust that can overtake an area in mere minutes, The Week reports. These dust storms can start suddenly and even pick up and spread around small particulate matter like fungi. For that reason if you ever find yourself facing a haboob you should get inside if possible, pull over if driving, and cover your nose and mouth if you can’t get shelter.

Fun note: for two years in a row the Arizona Department of Transportation ran a Haboob Haiku contest for haboob safety awareness.

Moonbow

Moonbows are like rainbows but even more awesome. A rainbow happens because of the sun shining on moisture droplets in the air, which are usually there after it rains. But a moonbow — sometimes called a space rainbow or a lunar rainbow — occurs at night and when the moon is full or almost full. It’s much rarer, according to Atlas Obscura, and usually occurs over waterfalls. There are only a few places in the world to see them, including Cumberland Falls in Kentucky, Victoria Falls at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the cloud rainforest in Costa Rica.

Brinicle

Only discovered in the 1960s, brinicles are underwater icicles that form underneath the sea ice. They form in the Arctic and Antarctica when a stream of cold saline water leaks through sea ice, meets ocean water and freezes. A study published by the American Chemical Society suggests brinicles form in the same way as hydrothermal vents, but in reverse. But as cool as they sound, brinicles are bad news for whatever happens to be on the ocean floor where they hit. A web of ice forms where the brinicle meets the floor, killing whatever urchins or starfish might be in its way.

Mackerel sky

Called the more-appealing buttermilk sky in some places, a mackerel sky gets its name for the pattern of its clouds — specifically because the formation of fleecy cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds looks like the pattern formed by the scales on the back of a mackerel. It’s actually not great luck to see a mackerel sky, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. The saying, “Mackerel sky, mackerel sky. Never long wet and never long dry” indicated that sailors believed this weather phenomenon signalled stormy weather to come.

Polar vortex

A polar vortex sounds cold, and it is. Formed when a pocket of very cold pocket of air is pushed south by a powerful high-pressure system, a polar vortex can lead to temperatures well below zero for days in a row if it reaches southern Canada, the American Midwest or the northeastern States. Despite an otherwise mild winter in southern Ontario, a polar vortex sent temperatures significantly downward in early March.