Early Monday evening, some Phoenix residents were lucky enough to catch two weather phenomena at once. A monsoon rainstorm ended in a rainbow surrounded by an orange dusty haze. As people went outside to see it and take pictures, they saw lightning striking behind the rainbow, creating postcard-level images.
Reddit User brandonblack posted a video captioned: “Can’t Believe I got this shot. 🌈 ⚡”
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Is this weather event really that rare? One weather-focused non-profit says that getting a photo of both together is “probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
The Climate Adaptation Center, a Florida-based nonprofit, calls the weather phenomenon "rainbow lighting.” Points awarded for accuracy, points deducted for lack of creativity.
“To start, conditions have to be perfect for rainbows and lightning to happen simultaneously,” meteorologist Ric Kearbey wrote in a 2024 blog.
For a rainbow to occur, the sun must be positioned perfectly to the backside of the observer, with clear skies around the sun. On the other hand, lightning happens when storm clouds build up opposite charges, with positive charges at the top and negative charges at the bottom. When those charges connect with the ground or another cloud, the sudden surge of electricity appears as the bright flash of a lightning bolt, Kearbey wrote.
To see it, you have to be standing in the right spot. In the Valley, it turns out, plenty were well-positioned.
Everything was orange and there was a rainbow
byu/FabAmy inphoenix
The Monday evening rainstorm was preceded by a small haboob, both of which were dwarfed by the much larger haboob and thunderstorm from last week. More storms are expected later in the week.
But the rainbow lightning? You may never see that again.
