As seen from Iceland’s narrow western coastal plain, the interior bluffs and hills grasped the very last of their day’s rays, while deepening golden yellows illuminated orographic low clouds hovering overhead. Despite its shallowness, this cumuliform cloud feature produced warm-cloud rain, as evident in the short rainbow segment at middle left. “Warm cloud” and Iceland don’t seem to match, and the appearance of the formation brings to mind the sort of soft, fuzzy formations seen above tropical islands. Yet here we were above 64 degrees north latitude with rain falling from clouds lying entirely below the freezing level! Soon the northwestern sky would blaze with one of the most memorably striking sunsets I’ve seen.
Grundarhverfi, Iceland (10 Aug 14) Looking NNW
64.2437, -21.8722Hofsvik Sunset Prelude
As seen from Iceland’s narrow western coastal plain, the interior bluffs and hills grasped the very last of their day’s rays, while deepening golden yellows illuminated orographic low clouds hovering overhead. Despite its shallowness, this cumuliform cloud feature produced warm-cloud rain, as evident in the short rainbow segment at middle left. “Warm cloud” and Iceland don’t seem to match, and the appearance of the formation brings to mind the sort of soft, fuzzy formations seen above tropical islands. Yet here we were above 64 degrees north latitude with rain falling from clouds lying entirely below the freezing level! Soon the northwestern sky would blaze with one of the most memorably striking sunsets I’ve seen.
Grundarhverfi, Iceland (10 Aug 14) Looking NNW
64.2437, -21.8722