If you were along Cayman’s north-western coast just after 8am on Monday, 1 Nov., and you happened to have looked up, chances are you might have caught a glimpse of a fleeting iridescent cloud.
“While the phenomenon is not exactly rare for our area, when they do occur most people have not made it out of their doors, let alone looked up,” said Gilbert Miller a forecaster at the Cayman Islands National Weather Service.
According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, “Iridescent clouds happen because of diffraction – a phenomenon that occurs when small water droplets or small ice crystals scatter the sun’s light”.
Miller told the Cayman Compass the angle at which the sun’s rays hit the earth’s surface is a contributing factor, which causes rainbow clouds to occur, normally around sunrise and sunset.
“Sometimes, like in this morning’s photos, the rainbow forms atop the cloud due to ice crystals which act like a prism and refract the white light into the natural colour spectrum,” said Miller. “Other times, the rainbow appears like a whisper on high level cirrus clouds, or at times, the clouds themselves look like a soap bubble.”
Rough weather
Miller said a weakened cold front is responsible for this morning’s rainbow cloud.
“The southern portion of the cold front regressed into our area and stalled over us,” said Miller. “This has now developed into a tropical wave which is being pushed towards the east.”
“This morning’s rainbow cloud was a high level cumulonimbus cloud, which is a part of that deteriorating cold front,” he added.
Miller explained, “You might be surprised how many fascinating cloud phenomenon occur in Cayman, like rainbow halos, which form when cirrus clouds and the sun is directly overhead; the problem is most people just never take the time to look.”
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