See the Amazing Photos of Light Pillars over Central New York

A unique phenomenon occurred over Utica and portions of Central New York this week, tall pillars of light strove upward into the night sky.

What the light pillars looked like

The National Weather Service in Binghamton shared the following picture:

Why did it happen

WKTV's Bill Kardis shared a meteorological explanation for why the light pillars formed

Last nights light pillar is really rare to have because it has to be really, really cold and you have to have light snow in the air and it has to be below zero. Normally, when it's really cold, it's really dry and you don't have snow. So everything kind of just worked together last night for seeing the light pillar.

[WKTV]

Other Light Pillars from Around the World

Finland

Sweden