Some Rainbow! Some Sky!
Tonight’s sky and its rainbow were rare, even by New Mexico standards. Although this view from my house shows a boiling sky with much turbulence up above, there was no wind at my house and, sadly, no rain. Other places nearby, however, got both.
Several things were unusual about this rainbow. First, it was essentially a single rainbow, in contrast to the many double rainbows seen frequently in Albuquerque. Even triple and quadruple rainbows are not unheard of here. A single rainbow is relatively uncommon.
On close inspection, the rainbow appears not to have a smooth edge or smooth curve, in contrast to what is usually seen. Low clouds were passing by, and light from the sun in the west was broken up in different places by these clouds, giving a somewhat jagged appearance. At one point, the rainbow appeared to be cut in half by a passing cloud.
Perhaps the most unusual thing about this rainbow was the length of time it lasted. I do not know how long it was out there before I saw it. I began photographing at 7:15:29 pm, and stopped at 7:36:13 pm. Remnants were still visible near the base when I came in. A minimum of 21 minutes is a very long time for a rainbow to remain visible, at least here in the desert!
Of course, the dominant feature in the sky was the cloud/clouds. For all of that upper level turbulence, it was calm on the ground at my house. And, the whiteness at sunset is somewhat unusual for clouds, even looking east to the Sandia Mountains.
Once again, Albuquerque and New Mexico had an amazing sky. Thanks for your patience with this oft-used phrase, dear readers.
That’s a great set of clouds with the rainbow. The sky from your point-of-view definitely looked different than mine.
Hi, Tim. I was wondering what that sky looked like from your side of town. I don’t recall seeing a sky quite like this one in NM before. Where I grew up, skies like this were definitely scary. Here, I did not even have wind (or rain), but some people did. The skies here keep surprising me!
We got a lot of wind with little rain Saturday evening, but a lot of rain with almost no wind Sunday evening.
I am glad you got rain! I wish we would get some on this side of town soon.
Whether clear of cloudy, the sky in New Mexico takes my breath away. Thanks for sharing the photos, Susan. Hugs!
Hi, Teagan. I agree, and I live here and get to see it every day. It’s never the same!
Thanks for looking at the photos! Hugs back! 🙂
Mighty fists delivering a bolt of beauty! (Which is what I see!)
Hi, Laurie. I like what you see! Thank you for your interpretation! Nice to see you. 🙂
Hi Susan, I am so fascinated by the clouds in summer here. They reflect so many moods of the weather. Thanks for sharing these brooding, moody powerful ones and the rainbow within.
Hi, Juanita. Aren’t our skies and clouds wonderful? New Mexico has so many things to love, but the skies remind us every single day how lucky we are to live here.The clouds in summer are reliable, but I have been going back through some old images and have been reminded winter can have some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets also.
It is so nice to see you today! Thanks for dropping by, and for taking the time to comment.