Fire Rainbow
Photograph shows a 'fire rainbow' over Idaho.
Claim: Photograph shows a “fire rainbow” over Idaho.
TRUE
Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]
THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW — THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA.
THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED ON THE IDAHO/WASHINGTON BORDER. THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT
CLOUDS HAVE TO BE CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRCEISELY

Origins: This image of a “fire rainbow” is a real photograph of a brightly colored atmospheric phenomenon known as a
example shown above was captured on camera as it hung for about an hour across a several-hundred square mile area of sky above northern Idaho (near the Washington border) on
In general, a circumhorizontal arc (or “fire rainbow”) appears when the sun is high in the sky (i.e., higher than 58° above the horizon), and its light passes through diaphanous, high-altitude cirrus clouds made up of hexagonal
Last updated: 21 July 2015
![]() | Sources: |
Gilman, Victoria. “Rare ‘Rainbow’ Spotted Over Idaho.” National Geographic News. 19 June 2006. Swain, Mike. “What an Ice Rainbow!” The Daily Mirror. 8 June 2006.