Sundogs and Double Rainbows
The sky lately has featured some amazing sights, from red sunrises to double rainbows. There's one rare sight in the sky called a sundog and meteorologist Josh Fitzpatrick shows you what it is and how it's formed.
We’ve seen some active weather the past couple of week and with that comes some interesting sights in the sky. Rhonda bush from my old stomping grounds of
Rhonda I think I know what you saw. And it's called a sundog. Recently one was sighted near
You can see the rainbow colors in the cirrus clouds. They’re formed as sunlight is refracted or bent by the ice crystal clouds and this shows the colors of the spectrum much like a rainbow is formed. Usually you'll see these brightly colored spots on each side of the sun. Since they're usually formed when cirrus clouds are in the sky, don't be surprised if the weather changes a day or two after seeing a sundog.
We've also see many rainbows recently and several double rainbows. Below is a picture of a double rainbow taken locally a couple weeks ago.
Basically the sunlight gets reflected twice inside the raindrops and if you look closely, the colors on the outer band are reversed from the main rainbow. The angle of the sun was just perfect to cast this double rainbow. Talk about right time, right place! Most rainbows are seen in the late afternoon or evening. That's because the angle of the sun is lower and is able to shine through the rain just right to cause a rainbow. Sometimes you can see a rainbow in the morning. But those are the most rare.
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