The plasma mass reportedly had a quiet center, multiple arms, and a trend of anticlockwise rotation.
In addition, it rained electrons instead of water droplets several hundred kilometers over the North Pole.
The event which occurred during low solar and otherwise low geomagnetic activity lasted almost eight hours before gradually breaking down.
Its features reportedly resemble a typical hurricane in the lower atmosphere, which has been observed in the lower atmospheres of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Similar phenomena have been spotted on the sun, known as solar tornadoes.
In an accompanying release, Reading Professor Mike Lockwood said that just being able to prove the existence of plasma hurricanes is incredible.
Space Hurricane Observed for the First Time interestingengineering.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from interestingengineering.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hurricanes are known to occur in the lower atmosphere of Earth and even other planets, but had never before been detected in the upper atmosphere. An international team of scientists made the unprecedented discovery during retrospective analysis of satellite observations. The hurricane occurred during surprisingly low geomagnetic activity, and suggests they could occur in the upper atmosphere of other planets too.
University of Reading: SPACE HURRICANE OBSERVED FOR THE FIRST TIME indiaeducationdiary.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiaeducationdiary.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.