Monday, October 28, 2013

The Mystery of the Snowbow

Is there such a thing as a snowbow?

My spouse and I saw this in the sky last Thursday about 4:50 pm in Johnson City, New York.  We were having a mixed rain/snow shower and we suddenly saw this rainbow - or snowbow? in the eastern sky, while driving.

I took a couple of pictures through the windshield of our car.

Looking online, I find that there may (or may) not be such a thing as a snowbow.

This says no.

This says yes, but what they describe isn't what I saw.

What I think I saw, though, was a true rainbow, produced by the rain component of the shower.

Still, it's the first time I've ever seen a rainbow associated with snow.

To my science minded readers - what do you think?

4 comments:

  1. I have seen many a rainbow without visible rain (it was raining far away)- and some snow can form when the air near the earth is colder than above- which happens near fast moving fronts... So.... I vote yes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hum! Hum! I'm no scientist. But it seems to me that this effect is caused by sunshine and water. Snowbow sounds perfect to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've seen a "snowbow" before, Alana, so--so far your commenters all vote YES! (Though I'm far from being science-minded, I am intensely curious about the world around me. Does that count?) Beautiful picture, by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great question and point... How about a hailbow!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting! Your comments mean a lot to me, and I appreciate each one. These comments are moderated, so they may not post for several hours. If you are spam, you will find your comments in my compost heap, where they will finally serve a good purpose.