The term fire rainbow doesn’t mean an actual rainbow, and nor does it have anything to do with fire, either. A fire rainbow is better off known as circumhorizontal arcs. This optical phenomena only happens in the sky when the sun is higher than 58°.
Another factor needed to create these fire rainbows are cirrus clouds, which are a thin and feathery type of clouds that usually occur only at higher altitudes. Because the temperature where these clouds are is very low, they are made of hexagonal ice crystals. When these two factors meet, the hexagonal ice crystals become a sort of prism that will result in refraction, making it look like a there is a rainbow.
People thinking that halos are rare is a popular misconception. Their commonality completely depends on the location of a city or country depending on a particular latitude. It is quite common to see halos several times during the summer in the United States, while it would be rare to see them in countries located in the mid-latitude, as well as in northern Europe. The possibility of seeing fire rainbows in Los Angeles would be 5-10 times more possible than ever seeing them in London, for example.
Photographer Cessna Kutz shared a mesmerizing fire rainbow photo on her Instagram account with the caption:
“Witnessed a pretty cool phenomenon out on lake Sammamish today. A horizontal rainbow! To me, it was a little reminder to hold onto hope and love instead of fear and panic in these unknown times. Stay safe out there, friends.”
It comes to no surprise that these beautiful photos, especially at a time when everybody is looking for something more hopeful out there became viral almost instantly.
“I honestly had no idea these photos would make the news. I was just wanting to share a beautiful moment I got to witness. I’m super passionate about photography so I’m grateful that God has used my photos to touch people, not only throughout the nation but throughout the world. It’s boosted my photography business as well as make an impact on people so it feels pretty amazing,” said Cessna.
