Beachgoers Snap Stunning Photos of Rare 'Fire Rainbow' in South Carolina Sky - ABC News
Photograph and excerpt from ABCnews.go.com: A dazzling "fire rainbow" lit up the sky in South Carolina Sunday afternoon, stunning onlookers who scrambled for their cameras to snap the rare phenomenon.
Fire rainbows are "one of many optical phenomena that exists when the sunlight interacts with various types of clouds -- especially those in the highest level of the atmosphere, which are largely made of ice crystals," said a rep for the National Weather Service. "This really represent nature's more beautiful color shows.
"Anyone is very fortunate to be able to capture them."
The rainbow, Carole Rich-Williams said, appeared overhead around 2:40 p.m. in Isle of Palms South Carolina -- an island just outside of Charleston.
"After about 30 minutes it seemed to dissipate," she said. "I do not know how long it was there, but it was truly magnificent. It looked angelic."