On January 7, IT technician Wesley Tyler was running out to his car for a computer part when he noticed the saucer-like formations. (See other cloud pictures.)

"At first we thought they were tornado clouds, but the air was so still—like mausoleum still," Tyler said. "You just knew it was unusual. I've lived on the beach for years and never seen anything like that."

Back home, he uploaded pictures of the clouds to Facebook, tagging a meteorologist friend, who later identified the phenomena as hole-punch clouds, or punch-hole clouds.

Hole-punch clouds are miniature snowstorms that can occur in thin, subfreezing cloud layers.

The lack of fine particles, such as dust, in the clouds means water droplets have little to condense around, so they