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A woman recently looked up at the Florida sky and noticed something extraordinary. She photographed it and later learned that forecasters call it a cloud iridescence, colloquially known as a “fire rainbow”. And believe it or not, according to Fox News, forecasters say these “fire rainbows” aren’t rainbows at all, and have nothing to do with fire!
Angela Capece was the one who first spotted the colorful display in the sky and posted it on her social media, getting her some shares and attention on Facebook. It seems like everyone loves to see how beautiful nature is, especially after a powerful thunderstorm.
What exactly is a fire rainbow?
So if it’s not a rainbow and it’s definitely not fire either, then what exactly did Capece capture? Meteorologists explain a cloud iridescence is a result of light being refracted as it passes from the sun over ice crystals in the atmosphere, for example in clouds. Usually, the rings are colorful, with a red arc being in the outermost ring, explains World Atlas.
According to The Earth Site news platform, the sunlight must be at precisely 58 degrees above the horizon for us to see the prism effect, like Angela did that day. In other words, that was a pretty lucky and unique shot!
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Other beautiful fire rainbow sightings
Floridians have actually been seeing other incredible weather and unusual sky displays as of late.
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An exceptional spotting occurred near the Everglades, when someone spotted an alligator shaped cloud formation. Perhaps the classic childhood game of finding clouds of interesting shapes can make it to the news these days! There are actually platforms dedicated to recording clouds of interesting shapes for others to enjoy, such as Matador Network and Pals.
Another unique phenomenon was seen some weeks ago when space jellyfish were sighted after the SpaceX rocket launch. This visual effect occurs when a rocket takes off during dawn or dusk, as happened in early May, as reported by NPR. The sun’s rays illuminated the gases in the rocket’s trail, a colorful effect that resembles a jellyfish’s bell and tentacles.
An additional sighting recently occurred in Orlando, whose skies hosted a double rainbow. This happens when a storm or rain subsides and sunlight is reflected twice. The tomorrow platform says this actually happens often, but it’s rare for people to catch it.
Perhaps there is more beauty around us than we think.
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