A woman takes photos of a child on a sports ground covered with hailstones following a hail storm in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia on June 27, 2023. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)

A women wearing a mask to protect from extreme smog visits the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing December 8, 2015 as China's capital issues its first ever "red alert" for pollution. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A woman carries a bag with a baby while being evacuated by local emergencies ministry members in Donetsk, Ukraine, February 2, 2017. (Photo by Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Ultra- trailers compete at sunrise on September 2, 2017 in Courmayeur, Italy, during the 15 th edition of the Mount Blanc Ultra Trail (UTMB), a 170 km race around the Mont Blanc crossing France, Italy and Switzerland. The 15 th Ultra- Trail du Mont- Blanc (UTMB) is a mountain ultramarathon with numerous passages in high altitude (>2500 m) and in difficult weather conditions (night, wind, cold, rain or snow). (Photo by Jeff Pachoud/AFP Photo)

A woman poses on the flooded St. Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Andrea Pattaro/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

A handout photo made available by the World Press Photo (WPP) organization on 13 February 2017 shows a picture by Rossiya Segodnya photographer Valery Melnikov that won the Long-Term Projects – First Prize award of the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest, it was announced by the WPP Foundation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on 13 February 2017. Caption: Civilians escape from a fire at a house destroyed by an air attack in the Luhanskaya village. (Photo by Valery Melnikov/EPA/Rossiya Segodnya/World Press Photo)

Penitentes, or nieves penitentes (Spanish for “penitent-shaped snows”), are a snow formation found at high altitudes. They take the form of tall thin blades of hardened snow or ice, closely spaced with the blades oriented towards the general direction of the sun.

A general view shows smoke and volcanic ashes billowing from volcano Cotopaxi in Pedregal, Ecuador, late 07 October 2015. (Photo by Jose Jacome/EPA)