A STRIKING photo of a low, wedge-shaped cloud formation looming over the Sunshine Coast Airport will feature alongside 12 of the best weather photos from around Australia in the Bureau of Meteorology's 2016 calendar.

Shane Loweke was working for a ground-handling company at the airport in 2008 waiting for an aircraft when he saw the cloud approach from the south-west.

The cloud was attached to a thunderstorm cloud but Shane snapped the stunning photograph without getting wet.

"Funnily enough it turned out to be nothing, it sort of blew over pretty quick and we got a little bit of rain out of it," he said.

Alongside strange clouds the 2016 Australian Weather Calendar includes extraordinary images of weather phenomena, from fogbow to dust devil and fallstreak hole.

Bureau of Meteorology deputy director for Corporate Services, Vicki Middleton, said more than 800 photographs were entered this year and it was a tough job whittling them down to the final 13.

"This multi-award-winning calendar provides a platform for the Australian community to connect with their environment through the art of photography, while serving as an educational resource on our unique weather and climate," she said.

Each image in the calendar is accompanied by an explanation of the underlying meteorology, supporting the Bureau's mission to provide Australians with environmental intelligence.

Weird weather phenomena

A fogbow forms when water vapour condenses into tiny droplets suspended in the air. Light passing  through fog can cause a rainbow-like effect.

Dust devils are formed when localised pockets of hot air rise quickly through cooler air above it, catching dust in dry areas.

Fallstreaks occur when sunlight passes through the thin part of a cloud containing super cooled water droplets, causing refraction.

Full circle rainbows are just like the semi-circle rainbows seen from the ground, but when viewed from up high the refracted light can be seen above and below, forming a full circle.