An anticyclonic supercell, moving to the left of the average (mean) wind, moved overhead and to our E across the Great Plains of eastern Colorado. There is a great deal in this photograph, and yet, only a part of what we experienced in person with this fascinating storm. A dazzlingly sunlit cascade of hailstones descended upon us, thousands upon thousands of tumbling, sparkling white jewels, accompanied by a brilliant full-arc rainbow rendered grainy by the hail falling through it. What a beautiful (and noisy!) scene to behold. The inflow tail and main updraft base are visible behind the rainbow and through the translucent core—a core composed of almost all hail and very little rain. Hail between one and 1.5 inches in diameter eventually covered the roadways to depths up to 4 inches. Looking closely, one can faintly see the secondary rainbow as well, making this a “double hailbow.”
1 WSW Aroya CO (15 Jun 3) Looking E
38.854, -103.1553Rainbow through Falling Hail
An anticyclonic supercell, moving to the left of the average (mean) wind, moved overhead and to our E across the Great Plains of eastern Colorado. There is a great deal in this photograph, and yet, only a part of what we experienced in person with this fascinating storm. A dazzlingly sunlit cascade of hailstones descended upon us, thousands upon thousands of tumbling, sparkling white jewels, accompanied by a brilliant full-arc rainbow rendered grainy by the hail falling through it. What a beautiful (and noisy!) scene to behold. The inflow tail and main updraft base are visible behind the rainbow and through the translucent core—a core composed of almost all hail and very little rain. Hail between one and 1.5 inches in diameter eventually covered the roadways to depths up to 4 inches. Looking closely, one can faintly see the secondary rainbow as well, making this a “double hailbow.”
1 WSW Aroya CO (15 Jun 3) Looking E
38.854, -103.1553