Ask Anthony:
Noah P sent this picture to me. He said, “I saw this Saturday in Sugar Land. Can you explain this to me on how this happens? It looks like a rainbow but it’s not one. Thank you, Noah P”
Click2Pins:
This wasn’t the only picture we received. Several people sent photos to our click2pins site. People saw these clouds from Conroe, Cypress, The Woodlands and Houston.
What they’re called and how they form:
It’s called a circumhorizon arc. They are a captivating optical display of vibrant colors in the clouds. They form on days when the sun is above 58° on the horizon. There must be cirrus clouds present for them to form. Cirrus clouds are made up of microscopic ice crystals that float 30,000 feet in the sky. These clouds reflect and refract sunlight creating vibrant colors of the rainbow. They aren’t rainbows because there is no rain present. These form parallel to the horizon.
Sometimes called ‘Fire Rainbows’:
In 2006 a journalist in Spokane, Washington called them Fire Rainbows. The name stuck but it isn’t accurate. They occur in the warm months of spring and summer over the mid-latitudes. They do not occur in the far northern or southern hemispheres.
If you ever take an incredible picture please share it on our Click2Pins site. And you can always ask me a question about what you see by emailing me at: ayanez@kprc.com.
What’s cool about the picture K2K2 sent in is how the cirrus clouds beneath the arc are trailing. This occurs when the air in the lower levels of the atmosphere is moving at a slower speed.
