The Hidden Rainbow with the Sun Coming out to Illuminate a Stormy Residue: It Was already Carnival at Cape Kamenjak; Southernmost Istra/Istria Peninsula, Pula, Croatia
28-January-2025
The photo is from the highest part of the cape, Kršine brdo (or Mount "Carmagnac" in ancient Italic toponym, from which, by extension, all area became Kamen-jak/rocky), 39m a.s.l., towards the north-east and a residual stormy cell in the upper Kvarner.
What is striking is the disappearance of the rainbow in the clouds on the left side (or so it seems, but in reality they are not so low, far from it) and the more progressive attenuation on its right side, probably ending up in the shadow..
The clouds are evidently composed of ice crystals and snowflakes, at an altitude of over 1500m a.s.l. (about 850hpas), and we know that snow does not generate rainbows by reflecting light without refracting it (the refraction of light in water drops is the basis of the rainbow), but as big as this rainbow is, it seems strange to me that it can reach such altitudes.
The freezing point was around 1300m above sea level, so quite high, too high for a rainbow that should be between the observer and the clouds (with the sun behind the observer), not between the clouds or beyond them, but I admit my ignorance in this case.
The Hidden Rainbow with the Sun Coming out to Illuminate a Stormy Residue: It Was already Carnival at Cape Kamenjak; Southernmost Istra/Istria Peninsula, Pula, Croatia
28-January-2025
The photo is from the highest part of the cape, Kršine brdo (or Mount "Carmagnac" in ancient Italic toponym, from which, by extension, all area became Kamen-jak/rocky), 39m a.s.l., towards the north-east and a residual stormy cell in the upper Kvarner.
What is striking is the disappearance of the rainbow in the clouds on the left side (or so it seems, but in reality they are not so low, far from it) and the more progressive attenuation on its right side, probably ending up in the shadow..
The clouds are evidently composed of ice crystals and snowflakes, at an altitude of over 1500m a.s.l. (about 850hpas), and we know that snow does not generate rainbows by reflecting light without refracting it (the refraction of light in water drops is the basis of the rainbow), but as big as this rainbow is, it seems strange to me that it can reach such altitudes.
The freezing point was around 1300m above sea level, so quite high, too high for a rainbow that should be between the observer and the clouds (with the sun behind the observer), not between the clouds or beyond them, but I admit my ignorance in this case.