Clouds of the Day - Tuesday, September 26, 2023
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Cumulus congestus in the foreground, Cumulonimbus calvus behind and Altocumulus above, Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
Cumulus congestus in the low foreground with cumulonimbus calvus across the background, Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
Cumulus fractus in the foreground with mostly Altostratus behind, Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
Rainbow curved over the tree tops in the late afternoon, Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
Below are two photos of a rainbow that graced our sky late this afternoon. Rain was falling to the east and with the Sun to the west this dramatic rainbow appeared. Notice the color scheme - magenta is on the inside of the rainbow with a gradual progression through green, yellow, orange, and red on the outside.
Bright rainbow. All these rainbow photos were taken of the same rainbow over a stretch of about 20 minutes. Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
Below is a wider view of the rainbow above. Look closely and you may see the secondary rainbow which is larger than the primary bow. While it is difficult to see here the color scheme in the secondary bow is opposite to what we see in the brighter primary rainbow.
Do you see both rainbows in this photo? The primary is brightest and the secondary is much dimmer with the colors reversed. Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
Near the end of the day I took these three photos. The first is a lone Cumulus congestus cloud. The second is the red coloration of the clouds caused by the Sun setting to the left of this photo in the west. Sunlight contains all the colors of the rainbow but with the Sun near the horizon the other colors have been screened out by small particles in the air. The light is taking a long path to reach the camera. It is coming through the thick part of the atmosphere at a low angle due to sunset. It hits the clouds and is reflected back to the camera - making the path longer. That leaves red, the color of visible light with the longest wavelength left to read the camera.
Cumulus congestus in the distance, Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
Foreground: Cumulus, Red background: Mid and High Clouds, Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023
This view of the sunset shows bright yellow. A fuller spectrum of the light is coming through. We are not seeing it reflected off clouds, as in the photo above, before it reaches the camera. It has a shorter path to take to reach the camera.
Stratus and stratocumulus above and a cumulus (congestus?) with precipitation low on the horizon. Photo copyright by Craig Johnson, Weather Briefing LC, September 2023