Ice Pillars in New Jersey?

Nov 18, 2011; 10:02 AM ET

After seeing a post on the WeatherMatrix Facebook Pageabout strange lights in New Jersey… I searched around for pictures of ice pillars but couldn’t find any, except from earlier this week in Alaska. Ice pillars would normally only be found in areas where the temperature is well below zero.

Leslie says: “They were mainly facing east – towards Philly. They diminished as you moved away from the brighter Philly lights.” (Interesting aside, Leslie was a client of our Forensics department in the past, and her association with AccuWeather caused her to donate these photos today. It all comes full-circle, man.)

Typically, ice pillars, or “light pillars,” which I have blogged about in 2008 under similar weather conditions in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic, would only be seen in areas that have below-zero temperatures. However, they must also be seen with very small specific snowflake types, and there was snow in the sky last night in New Jersey. It’s possible urban sprawl or newer types of streetlights are making this phenomenon more likely.