Circumhorizontal arc and solar halo amaze residents of Asunción, Paraguay

A spectacular circumhorizontal arc and a perfect solar halo appeared in the sky of Asunción, the capital city of Paraguay on March 13, 2016 at the same time.

Here some of the best pictures of this rare dual atmospheric phenomenon.

A circumhorizontal arc is an optical phenomenon typically occurring in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.

It is a rare ice-halo formed by the refraction of sun- or moonlight in plate-shaped ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.

In its full form, the arc has the appearance of a large, brightly spectrum-coloured band running parallel to the horizon, located below the Sun or Moon.

The distance below the Sun or Moon is twice as far as the common 22-degree halo.

The misleading term “fire rainbow” is sometimes used to describe this phenomenon. It may have originated in the occasional appearance of the arc as “flames” in the sky, when it occurs in fragmentary cirrus clouds.

The phenomenon is quite rare because the ice crystals must be aligned horizontally to refract the sun above it.

and here a first video:

The 22° halo is an optical phenomenon forming a circle with a radius of approximately 22° around the Sun.

It forms as the sun is refracted in millions of randomly oriented hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.

The halo is large; the radius is roughly the size of an outstretched hand at arm’s length.

A 22° halo may be visible on as many as 100 days per year—much more frequently than rainbows.

In folklore, moon rings are said to warn of approaching storms.

Like other ice halos, 22° halos appear when the sky is covered by thin cirrus or cirrostratus clouds that often come a few days before a large storm front.

However, the same clouds can also occur without any associated weather change, making a 22° halo unreliable as a sign of bad weather.

Let see in a few more days.

Meanwhile enjoy the last pictures.

And be baffled by mother Nature.

And here another video of this twin sky phenomena:

Credits for images: Hmnl Saülo from Maria Auxiliadora, F Hector Muñoz from Ciudad del Este, Antonia Cabañas from Asuncion, Guaireña Gazette from Villarrica, Heriberto Campuzano Alonzo from Ciudad del Este, Juanda Morel from Ciudad del Este, Jonathan Eduardo Reyes from Ciudad del Este via Facebook.

Arcoíris de fuego y halo solar adornan cielo guaraní

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