Comments on: Weather-ology: The Demon Wind

By: Jaime McLeod

Jaime McLeod — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:59:47 +0000

Thanks Dawn, I found all of that, but it doesn’t address Vicki’s question, which was why we call it a “sundog.” The origins of the name are Norse, but I know of no mythological significance to it.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:25:46 +0000

A sun dog or sundog, scientific name parhelion (plural parhelia) from Greek παρήλιον (parēlion), meaning “beside the sun”; from παρά (para), meaning “beside”, and ἥλιος (helios), meaning “sun”, also called a mock sun[1] or a phantom sun,[2] is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundog

By: scarlette

scarlette — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:21:28 +0000

Any wind over 15 mph is evil. We’re expecting high winds today/tonight and I’m already panicking. I hate wind. (Could you tell?)

By: Jaime McLeod

Jaime McLeod — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:16:48 +0000

Vicki – I can’t seem to find the origin of the term “sundog,” beyond what you stated here. It doesn’t have any mythological significance that I know of. Sorry I can’t be of any more help.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:47:09 +0000

Jaime, I enjoy reading about this kind of thing. Yesterday in our region we saw a huge Sundog, and I was explaining what it was to our foreign fellows who had never seen one before. They asked where the name came from, and other than knowing it’s Norwegian roots of Solhund, I couldn’t find any thing more about it. Why “dog”?