Light Pillars and How They Form

Light pillars are a weird weather phenomena that can be seen all over the world. The conditions have to be just right for them to form, extremely calm and cold with no wind, temperatures usually 10 or 20 degrees below zero. The pillars are caused by light, usually from sources such as street lamps, reflecting off of the ice crystals in the air but only if the ice crystals are close to the ground.

Light pillars are not synonymous with storms, if a storm were to form at the same time that light pillars were evident, the storm system would disrupt the ice crystals and the pillar of light would disappear. Although it's simple to predict when conditions are going to be cold and without wind, it is difficult to predict when ice crystals are going to present in the air and close to the ground, making light pillars relatively hard to predict. These spectacles of light are most commonly seen in the northern US and Canada.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-what-are-light-pillars/70000673