Rainbow over Bidwell Ranch – my weather station in the foreground
Today was one of those unique weather days where orographic lifting (moist air blowing upslope till it cools and condenses to rain) caused rain and thunderstorms on the slopes of the foothills while further west in the valley, the sun was shining. This setup the perfect scenario for rainbows today in and around Chico.
I saw more rainbows today than I’ve seen in years. I saw several that were full arcs and even a rare double arc rainbow. The colors today were intense enough to even see the violet part of the spectrum, which is usually only seen in intensely sunlit rainbows.
My own Bidwell Ranch Webcam and weather station had one within its view tonight about 6:45PM, as shown above.
What a great day.
I was on my way to Paradise at about 5:20 and you are right, the rainbows were fantastic! I saw the double, I saw the wide band of violet, and I saw the bow meet the ground…couldn’t talk my husband into going for the gold though…shucks!