Posted on 08/02/2026 11:59:08 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: What's happening to this cloud? Ice crystals in a distant cirrus cloud are acting like little floating prisms. Known informally as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc appears parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus clouds present below -- in this case cirrus fibratus. The numerous, flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are somewhat unusual to see. The featured fire rainbow was photographed in 2021 near North Fork Mountain in West Virginia, USA.
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I’ve seen circular rainbows, but had never seen this, a fire rainbow. Thanks for posting this one!
If I saw something like that, I’d be afraid to tell anyone. Who would believe it?
What kind of camera did they use?
That’s a marvelous sight! I’ve never seen such a thing.
Makes it easy to understand how one might develop a belief in aerial spirits. Those “flames” are freaky.
Beautiful. I can’t wait to leave Illinois and move there.
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