Large Iridescent Cloud over Ohio - May 9th 2009

I just came across this picture on the NASA website (which I believe was taken on May 9th but can't find another link to the image to confirm that)



It reminds me of the clouds that were seen above Shichuan Province shortly before the magnitude 7.9 earthquake which occured there last year.

www.youtube.com...

Could electrical/magnetic phenomena account for the irridescence in wator vapor?

What happens when water vapor is excited by electricity or magnetics?

while this would be a question for ozweatherman or someone like that, it looks like water vapor in the clouds that caught the suns rays and refracted them causing a "prism" affect. Very cool picture though. What part of Ohio?

That is a very cool picture. It is probably a result of the cloud cover and moisture, but what a cool effect. I have not seen that particular form of rainbow before. Hopefully there is no earthquake to follow it up!

What is the bright point at the very top, just left of the middle? I thought my computer screen had something on it, but it is in your photo. There is also another directly below the rainbow on the same vertical line.

Wow that is a very cool picture, I would have thought it was an EQ cloud too, if I saw it in the sky. Very pretty and Nice

S and F - thank you for showing it to us. I am very interested in clouds etc. and how they relate to EQ's - I am always trying to find new things about it.

[edit on 12-5-2009 by questioningall]

network dude: I do not know which part of Ohio it is, however it looks as if the light is coming from the right side of the picture which would indicate that the rainbow effect is running north-south... I couldn't determine from the EXIF tags whether the picture was taking in the morning or the evening...

EDIT: actually, that would be east-west.. although it doesn't seem completely aligned.. just trying to determine whether it is in line with the fault.

[edit on 12-5-2009 by blackhatchet]

I find it interesting that the rainbow cloud seems to be hovering over the Cell Phone Tower...woop...woop...lol...

Many people have conspiracy ideas about magnetics and all of the cell phone towers...That they will be used in some way or another...???
The June deadline for the DTV is coming up soon to... is it not...???
I have read... it is all connected in some way...

Like to beam messages into our heads or in front of our eyes...
To make us see or hear things...

I copied the picture to save...I think it is beautiful...

But...It does not look like a normal occurrence that I have ever seen...Very good catch...

Just things I have read...This is a conspiracy site...Right...???
Those are my ideas...

It is a circumhorizontal arc. These are rare, but they do occur naturally as others have guessed. They have also been seen before large earthquakes as well, and there are two theories about how they would result from the precursor of a quake:
1. They are a side-effect of the gasses released just prior to a large quake making it up to - or forming - the cirrus clouds.
2. Some sort of static or EM field is generated prior to the quake which aligns the ice crystals in order to produce the rainbow pattern.

I guess what I am trying to say is that they can happen before a large quake, but they do not have to. Even if they do occur prior to a quake, nobody knows exactly what the relation is. So if you happen to see these 'rainbow clouds', pay attention to the beauty and don't panic because it is not exactly likely a quake will hit.

Then again, if you are in a quake-prone area maybe you should take a little caution.. but Ohio? Enjoy the nature!

Nat Geo

Heya---

This is a photograph of a circumhorizontal cloud formation. It can only happen when cirrus clouds are present, and the rainbow coloration is a result of sunlight filtering through ice-crystals within the cirrus clouds.

Look it up.

EDIT: Sorry, did not see the post just prior to mine as we posted near simultaneously. Also, I'm not an expert, but I've seen this phenomenon documented before. I highly doubt there's any correlation between its appearance and environmental catastrophe.

[edit on 12-5-2009 by Elepheagle]

holy mackerel, I actually saw that cloud in the Northern Columbus area. It was right above me. I tried to take a pic on my camera phone, but it dissipated before I could click the picture. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who saw it. Thanks for posting!