Mother Nature pulls a Halloween prank on meteorologists?

FOX Weather's Debris Tracker

(FOX Weather)

A rather spooky sight showed up on FOX Weather’s Tornado Debris Tracker near Dodge City, Kansas Tuesday, just in time for Halloween. This jack-o-lantern face smiled at the weather team despite clear skies in the area.  

"I’ve never seen anything like that," said FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephen McCloud. "It is very strange; there was nothing (no storms) in the area.  Winds were out of the south blowing at 28 mph and there were fair skies."  

He said radar may have picked up a flock of birds or dust from fields blowing around to create this Halloween treat.

Usually, the Tornado Debris Tracker shows airborne debris pulled into and around a tornado; sometimes into the parent storm cell.  The different colors indicate rain and hail in pink and yellow.  Blue shows non-weather airborne stuff like roof shingles or cornstalks.  The blue to deep-purple colors could be a roof or trees after a tornado tore through a forest.  (Learn more about tornadoes.)

How about more Halloween Fun?

It appears the Jacksonville National Weather Service office caught bats with its Doppler Radar.  This time, the spooky treat was centered over Coffee County, Georgia.  The office said this colony of bats flies out every night looking for dinner.

Radar can catch nature because it sends out a pulse that bounces off an object; whether it be a raindrop, a bat, or hail and the echo returns. 

So, while looking for a Halloween face on the radar may be like waiting for the Great Pumpkin, you can rest assured: the FOX Weather team is keeping its eyes peeled on the skies with our 3D Radar and Debris Tracker. When in fact we do spot anything unusual and interesting we'll be writing about it.

Until then, Happy Halloween.