~ rainbow cloud ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight, while playing outside after dinner

we watched a beautiful dark blue cloud 

as the setting Sun backlit it, 

rimming it with stunning white light.

Then at the top of the cloud, 

a bright white spot of light appeared

almost like a shelf of pure white light.

And then.....

A bit of shifting rainbow color coalesced.

My camera is just a point and shoot

so my options for adjustment were limited

but I scrolled through the presets

and found the "sunset" one was just right.

I wished that my husband had been there 

but the girls and I sat on the curb

watching the colors move and fade and reappear.

After about 20 minutes, it was gone.

I won't soon forget those moments with my children

when we felt we were witnessing a miracle,

and breathless with wonder and awe.

~carrie

I didn't edit these photos at all.  Not that I know how to properly.  

But I may send them to my sister for some fiddling just to see what might come of it.


Here is a link to friend and local meteorologist Matthew East's blog,
where he features the pictures and gives an explanation.
Thanks Matthew!  


This is my synopsis of what Matthew explained:
What we saw was cloud iridescence, which occurs when a thin cloud 
with tiny water droplets diffracts the Sun's light individually.  
They are seen at the cloud's edges usually, 
and visible when there is something blocking the direct line of sunlight.


In this case, the iridescence was produced when a large cumulonimbus (thunder cloud) 
blocked the sunlight with high cirrus clouds overhead.  
Seeing iridescence is rare, and it is most rarely produced in cirrus clouds.
Wow!  I feel even more grateful to have witnessed it.