SAN DIEGO — A parhelia hovered above the tips of the Pinyon Mountains in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park this week, creating an atmospheric optical phenomenon.

A parhelia, which means “with the sun,” is also known as a sundog or a mock sun.

As described by the National Weather Service (NWS), “sundogs are colored spots of light that develop due to the refraction of light through ice crystals.”

Sundogs can occur anywhere, anytime of the year. They aren’t exclusive to cold climates, but rather seen when cirrus clouds form in the sky.

“They are located approximately 22 degrees either left, right, or both, from the sun, depending on where the ice crystals are present,” NWS explained further.

The colors usually go from red closest to the sun, out to blue on the outside of the sundog, which can be noticed in the image captured by Sicco Rood on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

The Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center shared the optical phenomenon on X, formerly known as Twitter. Rood is a staff research associate for the center.

According to Live Science, “Ancient Greeks came to realize that sundogs are fairly accurate rain forecasters.” This is so, because the ice crystals that produce sundogs form what’s known as cirriform clouds — the typical cloud formation that foretells a precipitating warm front.

With scattered showers dampening several areas of the region Friday, those Ancient Greeks most definitely were on to something.

For more captures of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, follow @AnzaBResearch on X.