Striking and Unfiltered Photos That Show Just How Powerful Nature Is

Depending on where you are on the planet, you might be used to very cold winters. Alaska and the Territories of Canada are used to temperatures that drop well below freezing. This type of extreme weather is totally normal, and if you dress for it, you will stay nice and toasty. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to experience some warmer weather after a few harsh months of wind, snow, and ice. 

The world is full of vibrant shades of color. Some reptiles have bright blue skin, but it is rare to see the sky lit up in such a bright red color. This color was created by forest fires happening in the area, and while it is rather eery, it is also a natural wonder. Typically, if you see a sky this color you probably want to turn around and head home. 

Summer days call for convertible roofs to go down, and the siding on Jeeps to be removed. Humans and dogs alike need to feel the wind in the fur and hair, and the rush that comes along with it. Sometimes sunny days even have short downpours, which only Mother Nature is aware of. This duo was cruising along when they got caught in a short downpour that left them completely drenched. 

There are many regions in the world which experience a lot of earthquake activity, This is due to the continents or other land masses sitting atop where tectonic plates meet. As these plates shift, earthquakes occur. For this couple, they were busy engaging in the kind of private bedroom activities that most people choose to keep behind closed doors. They never imagined that they would need to grab a blanket and head outside in the middle of it. 

Flooding is a pretty regular occurrence in towns and cities that are built on what are called flood plains. These areas naturally have higher and lower water areas depending on the season. After watching television, this person noticed that the water level had reached window height which would make this almost a flood of biblical proportions. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways, and she decided it was time to drench the land. 

There are two things that can save you from getting drenched when it starts to rain. The first is an umbrella, and the second is a raincoat. You need at least one of these if you want to avoid a thorough soaking. Standing around in wet clothes is always a bit of a slimy experience which is can be avoided. However, to avoid this you do need to make sure your umbrella doesn’t fly away. 

Dolls and stuffed animals tend to come with plastic and glass eyeballs. These can be a bit unnerving to look at, as with dolls especially, their eyes sort of follow you around the room. Some animals, specifically this cat, are born with a rare genetic mutation that causes their eyes to resemble cracked glass. The result is slightly startling but also very beautiful when seen up close. You might think that this cat is blind.

In 1998 Hurricane Mitch hit Central America, and Mother Nature really showed just how powerful she was with this storm. Honduras is known for its multiple waterways and little islands, but some of those waterways were directly affected by the hurricane. Seen here is the Choluteca Bridge which was designed to cross a river, but Mother Nature’s hurricane decided to completely reroute the body of water leaving this a bridge to nowhere. 

Norway is known for its beautiful fjords and often very cold winters. Each year, freezing temperatures arrive and slowly everything starts to turn to ice. In one town, the temperature kept warming and cooling which caused water to melt and freeze repeatedly. The result is nothing less than a masterpiece by Mother Nature. This bus has become an ice sculpture, and it will not be moving anywhere anytime in the near future. 

Tumbleweeds are pretty neat. They are composed of dry shrubbery, that rolls around and collects other bits and pieces as they go. Slowly but surely they make their way to an area that has walls or trees that can stop them from blowing around. On one particularly windy day, a squad of tumbleweeds rolled into this Utah neighborhood, and they could not be stopped. They did eventually find a final resting place. 

Everyone needs to play some games once in a while. For most of us, those games are chess or maybe a video game-like “Call of Duty.” For Mother Nature, she enjoys using everything at her disposal, which means playing with lightning bolts. While cruising by this person’s home, she saw a mailbox that must have looked like the perfect target. One lightning bolt later and that mailbox was blown to smithereens. 

Hail or small orbs of ice have the ability to do a lot of damage, especially when the hail balls are the size of a fist. They are a thing of beauty though to watch as they fall like frozen teardrops from the sky. This vehicle had a giant piece of hail dropped through its sun roof and the result is pretty amazing. It appears as if an icy chandelier has been created. 

Everyone enjoys making a dramatic entrance. For us humans, that usually involves a ball gown and a large staircase that we can walk down and show off on. Mother Nature prefers to make a bit of a different entrance. She blows into town on the heels of a twister and starts spinning through town and picking up cattle and bicycles as she goes. This twister hit pretty unexpectedly and the person who took the photo had a few things to say. 

If there is one film studio that knows how to do icy movies well, it is Disney. “Frozen” has to be one of the best winter movies of all time, and Princess Elsa’s powers are definitely based on what Mother Nature can do. The patterns on this handle might look like they were created by CGI, but that is all-natural. This is called crystallization, and in snowflakes, it forms symmetrical patterns. 

Forest fires occur each year, usually in densely forested areas that have become too dry. Sometimes Mother Nature adds a spark, and a fire starts burning. In Oregon state, in the Pacific Northwest one year, a variety of forest fires raged and they got hot enough to melt through almost anything. This vehicle was about a mile away from Blue River, and the heat could be felt at that distance. 

Not all buildings are built the same. Some are heavily insulated, especially in colder climates to keep the cold from reaching icy fingers inside. Some are built with the idea of keeping buildings nice and cool if they are in hotter climates, and some buildings are just poorly built. What we have here is an image that makes it look like Frosty the Snowman is trying to freeze a building enough so that when he enters he doesn’t melt into a puddle. 

Cold fronts can roll in with very little warning, and waterfront homes on lakes can be caught in them in unexpected ways. Sometimes Mother Nature will add some sleet to the mix to keep things interesting, and as that sleet rains down it freezes. This house was turned into an ice palace at the end of the storm, and it literally looks like something out of a fairy tale. All that is missing is a Disney princess. 

Earth is covered in volcanoes. Some are under the ocean, while others are on land. Not all volcanoes are active though, and the dormant ones are the volcanoes that Mother Nature may have forgotten. The active volcanoes are the ones that people need to keep an eye on. You never know when Mother Nature is going to decide to start spewing lava. One way to recognize a volcano eruption is if the sky fills with ash. 

Sometimes nature creates art in ways that we have not anticipated. One year, autumn and winter seemed to happen at the same time. First, it snowed and cars were blanketed in the fluffy stuff, and then all of the leaves fell off of the trees. That reversed order is pretty unusual, but the result is this car that looks like it has been covered in autumn-themed icing. This might just be a great idea for a future cake. 

If there is one thing that the United Kingdom is known for, it is the rain. Rain is a part of life in the UK, which might just be why they make some of the best rain boots in the world. One person out for a summer stroll looked up at the sky, and knew they were about to be in for a major deluge of rain and a bit of lightning. 

Some people treat their vehicles like their babies. They don’t want them to get bumped or scratched, and always make sure they are all tucked in nicely in a garage or under a porch. This person did not want anything to happen to their precious Jeep, but what they did not anticipate was that a deluge of rain would flood the entire underside of this house. Naturally, this was where the Jeep was parked. 

As the temperature rises in Australia each summer, everyone needs to keep an eye on their outdoor ornaments. Plastic and high heat are not the best of mixes, and as soon as the temperature gets hot enough, things begin to melt. We don’t mean people, who undoubtedly get pretty sweaty. Garden ornaments and plastic lawn lights tend to get caught in heatwaves, and they can’t help but start to melt. 

There are many jobs that involved working with trees, and some of these involve falling trees to keep them from damaging peoples’ property. Older trees that may be diseased can sometimes break, and land on top of houses. These peoples’ neighbors decided that they wanted to go the au naturel route, and let Mother Nature do whatever she wanted without any help from a tree faller. The result is a brand new skylight. 

Mother Nature works in mysterious ways, and for this town, she decided it was time to reshape it a little bit. That meant a bit of extra water, and some mud was what was needed as her medium for this masterpiece. From a distance, it appears that some farmland has turned into a muddy waterfall. The land will no doubt be completely changed by this event, which will make the citizens look at the land differently. 

Watching the sunrise over a body of water is one of those breathtaking moments that you never forget. Slowly but surely, the first rays begin to peek out of the water, and then the great fiery orb which is the sun fully emerges. Some places are known for their sunrises, like Angkor Wat in Cambodia as they are spectacular. This person wanted to experience the sunrise while on vacation, but they got something a bit different. 

The Earth is about 70 percent water, but not all of that is fresh water. Humans and other animals need water to survive, but there is such a thing as too much water. Sometimes Mother Nature unleashes rain storms of epic proportions that last for days and as the rain comes down, water levels begin to rise. That’s what happened in this town, where residents saw the water rise to window height. 

For anyone who lives in a snowy location or has visited one, you know what it looks like when you walk into the woods after it has just snowed. Nothing has been disturbed, and the snow gently sits along every branch which glistens in the sunlight. It is a truly magical experience. This person was not in a winter wonderland, but they did find a mini version when they picked up this ice shard. 

Many plants in Mother Nature’s universe look like they could resemble animals, and this might be on purpose. Some plants have vibrant colors and markings to let animals know they are poisonous and not to eat them. Other plants, like mushrooms somehow just end up looking like cute mice or even birds. At first glance, this image looks like an owl just hanging out in the grass in the middle of the day.  

The world is full of different flora and fauna, and birds, in particular, possess the ability to create what looks like woven images in the sky. They flock together and begin to move in what looks like waves. As they move, shadows of images can form. Here, a flock of sparrows was moving together and they began to form the image of a galloping horse in the sky. Mother Nature must have wanted a visit to her own art gallery that day. 

Woodpeckers are very special little birds. Their legs are designed to hold them upright against a tree, which means they tend to be perpendicular to their bodies when attached to a tree trunk. This is convenient when they are busy pecking away, but when they come across some tasty bird seed it means they need to rearrange their legs in a creative manner. The solution is to sit spread eagle style. 

Trees are Mother Nature’s sentinels. They stand tall and watch over the land for hundreds of years, and their root system reaches all throughout the world. On this property, this tree began to bow and formed a natural arch. That arch provided space for little tree-lets to sprout up which formed this beautiful bridge of trees. Instead of just one tree, this bridge actually has ten trees growing out of it. 

On a clear evening, the Moon is nothing short of spectacular. It lights up the sky and if you look very closely, with the help of a telescope, you should be able to see some of the craters. We’re not sure if Mother Nature’s power extends past the Earth’s atmosphere, but on this evening she decided to add a smudge of cloud cover to the night sky right over top of the Moon. 

First of all, we know that crows don’t buy bottles of water from vending machines. They are smart enough to learn how to put change in, but they don’t have any reason to learn to do that. This crow must have seen humans putting empty plastic bottles in the recycling bin though because it has begun mimicking the gesture. Whenever it spots an empty water bottle, it knows what to do. 

Cats are one of those animals that have a lot of stereotypes. They are standoffish, and more like humans than dogs. When Mother Nature was helping to create them, she must have said, “Add a little bit of spice,” because cats have to be some of the sassiest creatures on the planet. This little cat is pretty normal from the front, but on its belly, it has been marked by the Cookie Monster. 

Whales have lifespans even longer than humans, and that is without the help of modern medicine or anything like that. They are incredibly intelligent animals, which is why they must be preserved. This whale was spotted in 1985 in the area of Nayarit in Mexico, and the patterns on its tail fins are what make it recognizable. Scientists around the world actually study the photos taken by tourists to determine if a certain whale is still alive. 

Trees have a will to live like most plants. Their extensive root systems allow them to suck up water in the ground wherever they can find it, but they still need sunlight to thrive. Instead of giving up and accepting that it lived in a rocky desert area, this tree said, “No!” and decided to start climbing up the rockface. As it slowly grew up, it was finally able to sprout some leaves. 

In North America, deer love to roam around, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Due to it being densely populated with forest, deer often roam free and even in towns and cities which are close to forests. They are pretty cute, especially the fawns, but their coloring doesn’t really vary. Brown and white tend to be the main coat colors, but in some rare instances, an albino deer will be born. 

Malachite is a deep green stone that is the color of crushed green velvet. When it is cut into slabs, the texture is very silky and your fingertips just glide right over it. Before chemicals were used to create green paint, malachite was crushed and used in pigment up until the 1800s. Now, it is mainly used as a decorative rock and if Mother Nature had a special cave we are sure it would have some malachite in it. 

Have you ever walked along a beach that isn’t fine sand? Many beaches are not the pristine white ones we associate with tropical destinations. Some beaches, which are not as old as fine sand beaches have a coastline made up of billions of tiny pebbles and sea shells that have washed ashore. These beaches aren’t the nicest to walk barefoot on, but the seashells you can find, and their colors are pretty mesmerizing. 

Mushrooms have to be one of the most unique fungi on the planet. They all have different properties ranging from medicinal to poisonous, which makes them something to be wary of unless you have a thorough understanding of them. The Mycena family of mushrooms is a large one, but they don’t tend to get very big physically. This beautiful blue specimen is one that may contain some bioluminescence which is pretty cool.