6 wild winter weather phenomena

Winter is almost here, and with it comes the usual temperature drops and winter weather warnings. But there are some meteorological events that can happen during colder months that you might not have heard of before.

Spice up your knowledge of the season with these wild cold weather phenomena:

Graupel

Think you're seeing hail falling from the sky? If it's warmer weather you're probably right, but if it's colder it could be graupel, which forms inside a cloud and hits the ground in white pellets.

Snow rollers

Consider these to be Mother Nature trying to join in a snow ball fight. With the right combination of snow, wind, temperature and moisture, snow balls roll themselves up, ABC affiliate KMGH in Denver reports. It's so rare, it's even exciting for meteorologists.

Thundersnow

While snow by itself is pretty exciting, hardcore snow lovers get excited when there's an added bonus of a thunderstorm, which can happen when there's a warm front or other instability, NOAA explains. We mean really, really excited.

'Phantom suns'

A Parhelion, also known as a 'sun dog' or 'phantom sun' or 'solar halo' happens when light refracts through ice crystals inside of clouds.

'Icy finger of death'

Thankfully for shore-dwellers, this one is completely underwater. A brinicle, better known by its chilling nickname, "icy finger of death," happens when icy brine sinks to the sea floor, freezing the water it comes into contact with on the way down.

Ice volcanoes

Don't worry, this isn't the terrifying combination of ice and lava that the name implies. Instead cryovolcanoes, aka ice volcanoes, happen when ice behaves like a volcano with a little help from some waves. If ice along a shoreline is weak due to the temperature being just below freezing, the force of a strong wave can cause an "eruption."