A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia | Earth Science

A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia | Earth Science

What's happening to this cloud? 

Ice crystals in a distant cirrus cloud are acting like little floating prisms. Known informally as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc appears parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus clouds present below—in this case cirrus fibratus. The numerous, flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are somewhat unusual to see. The featured fire rainbow was photographed in 2021 near North Fork Mountain in West Virginia, USA.

Image Credit & Copyright: Christa Harbig

Location: North Fork Mountain, West Virginia, United States

Christa's website: 

https://www.facebook.com/christa.harbig.photos/
Release Date: Aug. 2, 2026

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