Colorado is no stranger to afternoon thunderstorms and once these storms clear out bright, beautiful displays of color take their place. Like the name, rainbows form from rain, but it takes more than water to light up the sky. You need the combination of water, sunlight, and the perfect angle.
The light reflects and bends as it exits. The bending of this light as it exits the water droplet is called refraction. This creates the different colors that we see: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Everyone sees a rainbow differently. This is because the colors will only appear at a specific angle directly opposite of the sun. Depending on where you are standing that rainbow is unique to you.
If you want to view a rainbow, you need to make sure that you stand in between the sunlight and the storm. We see a lot of rainbows in Colorado, and a lot of them look much brighter. The thinner air means less light scattering and bolder colors.
If you capture any photos in the area of rainbows or other weather events, you can email them to the weather team at weather@koaa.com for a chance to be features on air. Just email the photo along with your name and where the photo was taken.
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Have a question or story idea you would like the First Alert 5 Weather team to consider? Email: weather@koaa.com
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