A surprising weather phenomenon was spotted in parts of Virginia this week. It's called a "rainbow cloud". Bright prism of colors behind soft clouds. Several people in Hamilton, Virginia sent pictures of the phenomenon to WUSA-TV, his CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C.
Many called it a "rainbow cloud." ', but more accurately it's the atmosphere optics called cloud iridescence. But what exactly is it?
Instead of bending light, it shoots water droplets,” says Weather Channel meteorologist Jen Carfagno. told CBS News.
"The colors in the spectrum are not as neatly organized as the rainbow." she added. clouds are quite rare. It is often seen near the poles and in mountainous regions in winter. Clouds should be close to the sun.
Clouds should be very thin and made up of uniformly sized ice crystals or water droplets. As such, cloud iridescence usually occurs in lenticular or altocumulus, cirrus, and cirrocumulus clouds.
"What happened in northern Virginia this week was the formation of the Piraeus cloud, also known as the 'cap cloud', on top of the late afternoon cumulonimbus," said Carfanyo. "This cap cloud is a common feature over strong thunderstorms."
Rainbow clouds are formed by the diffraction or refraction of light, so similar rainbows, halos, sundogs, rings, A horizontal arc.
In 2018,a similar 'fire rainbow' was discovered in Vermont. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), technically called the circumhorizontal arc, this phenomenon occurs when the sun is very high in the sky (more than 58 degrees above the horizon), and its light is reflected in the atmosphere. It is refracted by the ice crystals floating inside.
This phenomenon looks like a very large halo, found only in faint cirrus clouds made of ice crystals. According to the NWS, if cirrus clouds are illuminated with color, they can be mistaken for iridescence.
Rainbow clouds and fire rainbows are different, and the colors of fire rainbows are much more vivid than rainbow clouds, Carfaño explained.
According to Calfagno, the "rainbow clouds" seen above Virginia are described by some as psychedelic colors, which are clues to the type of cloud. is a good description because it becomes
"Cloud iridescence is not as uniform in color as a regular rainbow, halo, or circumhorizontal arc," she said.
Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer behind trending stories for CBS News and its news brand The Uplift.
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