'Fire rainbow' lights up the sky in Atlantic Canada
Digital Reporter
Monday, May 2, 2016, 3:22 PM - People in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland were treated to a rare treat Sunday when a circumhorizontal arc, or 'fire rainbow', lit up the sky.
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Social media erupted with images of the rainbow Sunday afternoon, with many people asking for some clarification on what they were seeing.
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The phenomenon - dubbed a ''fire rainbow'' by a Washington journalist in 2006 - is formally known as a circumhorizontal arc, and while rare in Canada, it isn't unheard of.
Dayna Vettese, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, says the conditions have to be ''just right'' for the arcs to appear.
"When the sun travels through tiny ice crystals in the atmosphere you tend to see this effect," she says, "but the sun has to be high in the sky -- at least 58 degrees."
Circumhorizontal arcs most commonly occur in cirrus clouds -- but only when they're aligned horizontally.
"You're more likely to see this type of rainbow during the summer here in North America," Dayna says. "But in places like Europe, the arcs are much rarer."
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