WOAY-TV (Oak Hill, WV): We were on rainbow alert earlier today, but what is the ideal meteorological setup for rainbows?
Chief Meteorologist Chad Merrill has more:
February 23rd was the perfect opportunity to see a rainbow. Viewers sent in a plethora of photos, capturing the rainbows. We even had a gorgeous sunset that Goldie from Oak Hill submitted to the weather team.
You must be standing between the sun and rain shaft in order to see a rainbow. Sun refracts or bends when it hits the water droplet and that forms the ROYGBIV we learned in grade school.
You can only see a rainbow within a few hours of sunrise or sunset. It’s always going to be on the western horizon in the morning and eastern horizon in the evening. The larger the raindrops, the more magnified the colors will be. So keep that in mind going forward, because we will have more opportunities during this spring and early summer.
