Canadian stamp stories

Visitors to Canada could be excused for thinking that an intense interest in the weather – not hockey – is our national pastime. Too cold, too hot or just right – Canadians always have something to say on the subject. Yet nothing inspires meteorological murmurs more than some of the fleeting (but fabulous) phenomena that can appear when weather permits.

These stamps, which follow our first weather-themed issue from 2015, showcase five other weather wonders: steam fog, a moon halo, a waterspout, lenticular clouds and light pillars. Captured in Canada by amateur and professional photographers with endless patience, keen eyes and some luck too, these photos reveal the awesome power and beauty of nature.

Timmy Joe Elzinga, a resident of North Bay, Ontario, used his smartphone to shoot the otherworldly photo of light pillars – ethereal bands of light that appear when tiny ice crystals in the air reflect light from artificial sources. Awoken one cold January night by his young son, Timmy noticed the strange lights out the bathroom window. “Red, blue, green, yellow, purple and pink lights seemed to beam up in to the air,” Elzinga explains. “It almost looked like something out of Star Trek.”