If you were outside Tuesday morning, you were treated to a beautiful sunrise. There were pretty pink, red, orange and yellow hues in the sky. You may have also noticed what appeared to be a vertical beam of light extending from the ground up into the sky. This is an optical phenomenon we call a light pillar. A light pillar appears when sunlight is reflected off of falling ice crystals within high-level clouds. Also called sun pillars, these often occur in cirrostratus clouds which are at an altitude above about 20,000 feet.

Here are some other light pillars seen Tuesday morning in Alabama: