Beautiful 'rainbow cloud' spotted over the north-west of Singapore

Submitted by Stomper Hock Kwee


Stomper Hock Kwee spotted what looked to be an iridescent cloud from Woodlands yesterday (Mar 5) at about 6.30pm.

"Beautiful rainbow clouds spotted in north-west of Singapore," he said.

Sometimes mistaken for a fire rainbow, iridescent clouds occur when light passes through tiny ice crystals or water droplets and is diffracted, creating a rainbow-like effect.

Fire rainbows are an optical phenomenon that is formed when sunlight passes through is refracted by ice crystals in cirrus clouds at a high altitude.