By Wonderwall.com Editors
3:00pm PDT, Apr 27, 2024
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The Italian island of Sicily is famous for its hot, Mediterranean weather, but a rare, late-April topping of snow has returned to Mt. Etna, the volcano that earlier this month was spotted spewing what looked like smoke rings into the sky.
New photos of Europe's tallest and most active volcano show large portions of the mountain's top covered in snow that normally just appears in the wintertime.
This image of Etna, taken on April 26 from a lava arch of a cliff formed during the volcano's eruption in 1169, shows the unseasonable snow on the mountain in the distance.
Just a few weeks before this photo was taken, Etna was emitting cloud-like round rings called volcanic vortex rings. Technically, a mix of water vapor, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, according to The Washington Post, the rings have made appearances above Etna as far back at 1792. But April's spate of rings "has broken all previous records" in terms of frequency, the Post reported, quoting Boris Behnke, a scientist at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology of Catania in Italy.
Keep reading to see more incredible photos of the rare late-April snow on Etna and the volcanic phenomenon of smoke rings…
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Volcanic vortex rings are generated by the southeast crater of Mt. Etna, a volcano in Catania, Italy, on April 6, 2024.
The formation of steam rings is a very rare phenomenon that only occurs under special conditions, when there is a constant venting of vapor and gas from Etna's volcano. The gaseous mass rises with speed in the central part of the conduit, favoring the formation of the rings by the winding of the gas around itself in a vortex motion.
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A new vent on Italy's Mt. Etna — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's most active volcanoes — began puffing what looked like white and pink smoke rings into the sky above Sicily in early April 2024.
When a vent opens in the volcano, as Etna recently experienced on its southeast crater, the pressure inside the crater can start to build, causing the magma to force condensed gases out of the vent, The Washington Post reported earlier this month. The water-vapor combo, along with the round shape of the vent, then work together to create round clouds.
"It is bellissimo," said Simona Scollo, who co-published the 2023 study on the rings, in a recent interview with The New York Times about Etna's stunning white and pink rings.
"Bellissimo" means "beautiful" in Italian.
Keep reading to see more incredible photos of the rare volcanic phenomenon…
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A photo taken from Riposto, Italy, shows an eruption at Mt. Etna in Catania, Italy, on July 7, 2021. The Southeast crater erupted a little more than 48 hours after the last volcanic event there, with the highest jets of the lava fountain reaching 1,000 meters.
The eruptive column was carried by the wind to the south, and the heavy rain of ash fell on the city of Catania. It was the 46th eruptive episode in 2021, marking the largest series of eruptions in a short period of time in 20 years.
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The southeast crater of Mt. Etna, an iconic stratovolcano in Catania, Italy, is seen at sunset as it emits gas and steam rings called volcanic vortex rings on April 6, 2024.
When Mt. Etna became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2013, it was deemed "the highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano in the world."
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Two steam rings called volcanic vortex rings are seen above Mt. Etna, a volcano in Catania, Italy, on April 6, 2024.
"The eruptive history of the volcano can be traced back 500,000 years and at least 2,700 years of this activity has been documented," according to UNESCO's World Heritage listing for Etna.
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The southeast crater of Mt. Etna in Catania, Italy, is seen at sunset while emitting gases on April 6, 2024.
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In this bird's-eye view of Mt. Etna, volcanic activity is seen during a training session of the SAGF, the mountain rescue team of the Italian Guardia di Finanza, which operates on the highest active volcano on the Eurasian plate in Catania, Italy, on Aug. 9, 2023.
In the background, a detail of the Bocca Nuova crater is visible.
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A steam ring called a volcanic vortex ring is generated by the southeast crater of Mt. Etna in Catania, Italy, on April 6, 2024.
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Mt. Etna in Catania, Italy, is seen erupting on May 21, 2021. After a month and a half of apparent rest, volcanic activity resumed strongly on the volcano, with a spectacular lava fountain at the southeast crater 48 hours after the last eruption.
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Mt. Etna's volcanic activity is seen during a training session of the SAGF, the mountain rescue team of the Italian Guardia di Finanza, which operates on the highest active volcano on the Eurasian plate in Catania, Italy, on Aug. 9, 2023.
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Mt. Etna's Bocca Nuova crater is seen from 3,300 metres above sea level in Catania, Italy, on Aug. 9, 2023.
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Mt. Etna's southeast crater emits gas in Catania, Italy, on Aug. 9, 2023.
