Rainbows!

While at a stop light, I tried capture the awesomness of the rainbow. This picture does it little justice but the base was blazing bright.

I am a huge fan of pondering things. Earlier this week while driving to work I saw some amazing rainbows. Not just one, but when I got to work there were two full complete DOUBLE rainbows. I tried to take a picture but my phone crapped out on me. It didn’t have enough memory and it was starting to really rain. I always have a slight fear that I'm going start melting like the wicked witch of the west so went inside. So  I just have these two pictures to share.

At work I was trying to take a picture of the double rainbows but my little phone could not get the whole rainbow or the awesomness of both. Plus I coudln't even take a follow up picture to try and then splce together later because my memory was full. Picture fail.

Rainbows, little pots of gold, and leperchans and their awesomeness has crossed my mind before. Actually, back in June 2010. So I searched through my e-mails and found the messages I sent and received from our local weather men. Just about the rainbows though, I have to wait until I make it to Ireland to find out about the rest.

As a general rule whenever sending out e-mails like this, I like to do it groups of three. I feel like if the general consensus is about the same then we’re on the right  track.  This is what they had to say about rainbows.

 
My e-mail sare in pink, their answers are in blue.

Hello Jeff,

 

My name is Shannon and I have a question that I'm hoping you can answer for me. Is there any way to predict where rainbows will show up? I know they are caused by the light reflecting off of rain. But like if it rains at night will you see it more to the west? Verses in the middle of the day they arrive more to the south? Just wondering, thanks!

HI there Shannon! Good question and thanks for the email. Generally speaking, to see a rainbow you need to have two variables: rain and sunshine. If you can get to a location where you see both, then the chance is there for you to see a beautiful sight! There is no correlation between the raining at night vs. raining during the day. Rainbows cannot be seen at night because there is no light, so you want to try and get to the edge of the precipitation if you are a fan of rainbows.

Hope this helps! Have a great night!

Jeff Haniewich

Storm Team 10 Meteorologist

 

Hello Matt,

 I hope your day is going well. I was just wondering if you could help
 answer a questions about Rainbows for me. Is there a way to predict
 where rainbows will show up? Like the sun rises in the East and sets in
 the West, do rainbows always show up in the south? Or if it rains at 5
 then it will be to the south? Thank you so much for your help.

 Shannon

Shannon,

In Virginia in most cases a rainbow will be seen during the late afternoon. The perfect setup for seeing a rainbow is clear skies surrounding an isolated shower or storm moving in an eastern direction. As the storm moves east of your area, the setting "low angle" sunshine to the west will shine through the waterdropets producing the rainbow.

For more information on rainbows check out this website...

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/224/

Hope this helps,
Matt Ferguson
Good Morning VA/Midday
Meteorologist

Hello Mr. Reed,

I hope your day is going well. I have a question I was hoping you could help me with. I was wondering if you could tell me if there is a way to predict where rainbows will show up? I know rainbows show up after or during it rains because of light reflecting off of rain. But what I'm wondering if it rains at like 5pm will it show up more to the south verses the west? Or does the rainbow always show up to the north? Thank you so much for your help I hope you have a great day!

That was a great question Shannon. One that I was not sure had an easy answer.

I did find an interesting web article that was intended for photographers that seemed on point:

http://www.photocentric.net/rainbow_angles.htm

Best regards,

Robin John Reed, CBM
Chief Meteorologist
WDBJ 7

 Most helpful information taken away from the e-mails. 

1. Rainbows cannot be seen at night.
2. You want to try and get to the edge of the precipitation if you are a fan of rainbows.
3.  "Virginia in most cases a rainbow will be seen during the late afternoon"
4. The perfect setup for seeing a rainbow is clear skies surrounding an isolated shower or storm moving in an eastern direction.
5. This website is cool http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/224/
6. This website is cool http://www.photocentric.net/rainbow_angles.htm

Do you know any interesting rainbow facts? Share your answers below or on the Facebook page!