GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Viewers across West Michigan were in awe of the patches of rainbow popping up across the area on Sunday.
This phenomenon is called a Sundog.
What is a Sundog?
Sundogs are a result of the refraction of light when the sun's rays interact with ice crystals suspended in the upper atmosphere. Refraction causes the dispersion of light into a spectrum of visible colors, better yet known as a rainbow.
This is because ice crystals are shaped in a way that when light interacts with its flat hexagonal shape, the light will bend, and cause different colors to form. The light typically bends at a 22° angle, which is how you often get these patches of rainbow to the left, right, or sometimes both sides of the sun.
You will also notice that the color closest to the sun is red and the color furthest away is blue. This is because the light will disperse more the further away it bends from the sun.
Weather Conditions
Sundogs can form in summer, spring, fall and winter but are often easier to view in the winter months due to the colder temperatures and higher amounts of ice crystals in the atmosphere. They also typically occur near sunrise and sunset when no clouds are covering the sun and often in the presence of thin cirrus clouds in the upper atmosphere.
You can get a very similar outcome to a sundog without being 22° away from the sun. Several photos like this were captured of miniature rainbows forming in the ice crystals of cirrus clouds across West Michigan. Pretty incredible!
Have a 30-second video or photo to share? We'd love to share it with everyone! Share your images by texting your name and location to 616.559.1310 or email to Weather@13OnYourSide.com or post it to our 13OnYourSide Facebook Page
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and on your phone.
