Iridescent Clouds and the Sun

[jupiterbeings]

OK. I have for a long time been interested in the weather and all sorts of sky phenomena. Now I know that what goes on above(in space) affects what goes on down below (on earth). Our solar system is changing seemingly very rapidly of late and our sun especially is producing all sorts of weird and wonderful effects for us to mull over and contemplate (Solar cycle 24 and its lack of activity and the great electron storm that started in late May 2013 and continued for several weeks). Now from around the middle of July this year I have been noticing iridescent clouds appearing on a fairly regular basis. Now these clouds are generally known to be quite rare to see and I would have agreed with that having seen them maybe 2-3 times in the last few years. By the way I live in the UK. But since July on the sunnier days we have had here I can say that I have seen them nearly EVERY time the sun appears and the clouds are wandering through the sky. I have photographed them probably 6-7 times and have witnessed them whilst without my camera too. So here's a few pics to have a look at. Anybody else experiencing anything similar??

 

[Niall]

Anybody else experiencing anything similar??

Yes, I noticed very pronounced iridescence in a cloud I saw sometime mid-August. These are still reported as "rare" although they're a fairly common sight these past 10-15 years. We suspect we're seeing more of them now because there is more particulate matter in the atmosphere due to increased comet-dust loading.

 

[Gimpy]

Anybody else experiencing anything similar??

We've been seeing more 'sun dogs', which are small rainbows in the clouds, all summer long.

Below is an example, though the ones we're seeing are not this vivid or striking:

http://parkerlab.bio.uci.edu/pictures/photography%20pictures/sundog%20reflection2.jpg

 

[aaronfransen]

I saw iridescent clouds last night actually (I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) for the first time. Quite striking, and I've noticed the sunrises and sunsets have been a lot more red and pink the last couple of months, though certainly more pronounced the last couple of weeks.

I would have attributed the change in colour to particulate in the atmosphere as well.

 

[SeekinTruth]

I saw iridescent clouds last night actually (I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) for the first time. Quite striking, and I've noticed the sunrises and sunsets have been a lot more red and pink the last couple of months, though certainly more pronounced the last couple of weeks.

I would have attributed the change in colour to particulate in the atmosphere as well.

Yeah, same here. Lots of very dramatic and beautiful sunsets and clouds in the last couple of months, even more than usual.

 

[Moonbird]

I saw iridescent clouds last night actually (I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) for the first time. Quite striking, and I've noticed the sunrises and sunsets have been a lot more red and pink the last couple of months, though certainly more pronounced the last couple of weeks.

I would have attributed the change in colour to particulate in the atmosphere as well.

Yeah, same here. Lots of very dramatic and beautiful sunsets and clouds in the last couple of months, even more than usual.

Same here also in Southwest Florida. In the last couple of months, I've noticed both sunrises and sunsets with a good amount of clouds appearing in shades of red and pink. It has made me stop in my tracks and really take notice.

 

[mabar]

Caught "some" colorful clouds coming back from holydays, photos were taken from inside of a moving bus, took several but, was in front the sun and only two were rescued. One is from the reference inside the bus and the other is the cloud itself, I noticed too, two diagonal white lines below in the grey area of the first layer of clouds, both did not seem to me to be scratch of the window, though. This was in between Jalisco and Morelia State, Mexico, December 25, around 4:30 pm.

 

[Pearce]

So I'm not crazy?! I've been seeing these as well since about May every time the sun shines. I pointed them out to a few people who didn't seem as excited that the entire sky looked like a pearl...It's the same some nights with the moon as well, it has a real pronounced rainbow circle around it.