Scientists discovered a wild space hurricane above the North Pole

Somebody call up the SyFy channel, we're going to need a whole series of Spacenado movies now. 

This week, a team of researchers unveiled the results of a study that highlights the first-ever observation of a space hurricane in our planet's upper atmosphere. Unlike the infamous cyclones that wreak havoc closer to Earth's surface, the space hurricane was made up of swirling plasma and "rained" electrons.

"Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes even existed, so to prove this with such a striking observation is incredible," University of Reading space scientist Mike Lockwood said in a statement Monday. Lockwood is co-author of a paper on the phenomenon published in the journal Nature Communications in late February.

Scientists discovered the event after reanalyzing data collected by satellites in August 2014. Researchers at Shandong University in China led the team that made the discovery. The data showed a 620-mile-wide (1,000-kilometer) plasma mass swirling above the North Pole. It had spiral arms and lasted for nearly eight hours.

Read more at cnet