The weather page of our local paper sometimes defines unusual "weather words". I'll start a thread to present them as the arise, beginning with two in today's paper.

quote:

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Heiligenschein is a region of diffuse brightness surrounding the shadow of an object (often a person's head), giving it the appearance of a halo. In German the term literally means "holy light." Unlike the colored concentric rings of the glory (another optical phenomenon), the heiligenschein is white. It is most often visible when the sun is low in the sky and the grass is wet with dew.

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PS: Can anyone find and post pictures and explanations?

Here ya go: http://www.weather-photography.com/Photos/gallery.php?cat=optics&subcat=heiligenschein

More today. Fear of:
. . . .floods: antalaphobia
. . . .water: hydrophobia
. . . .rivers: potamophobia

Scary stuff !!

Phobia = A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.

Phobiaphobia = A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.

Und so weiter, ad infinitum, et cetera