Somewhere Under The Monochrome

Monochrome rainbow lights up Delaware Skyline

On Wednesday evening, as the storms were exiting Delmarva, Smyrna was treated to a monochrome rainbow. It occurred just after a brilliant double rainbow. While monochromatic rainbows form in the same way as a normal “Roy G. Biv” rainbow, through reflection and refraction of light passing through water. They require a very specific timing.
(ROY G BIV is the way everyone was taught how to remember rainbow colors: Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet)

The thing that sets these rare phenomena apart is the angle of the sun. It has to be just after sunrise, or before sunset, when the storm, or fog, has passed and the sun is exposed to the water particles.  Having a low angle causes the light particles of shorter wavelengths, such as blue, green and yellow, to scatter. Due to the distance the light has to travel through our atmosphere. Leaving behind only red, inside the complete arc, in most cases.

If your lucky enough to have the proper timing, you get the chance of seeing a more rare, and super vibrant, yellow monochrome. It literally casts a strong yellow glow on everything. These are phone pictures with no filters. They were taken between 7:35 & 7:36 p.m. It was a very short duration event. The only post editing done was a slight defog.

Buddy Cahall