Photographer Captures Once-in-a-Lifetime Shot of a 'Fire Rainbow’ That Filled the Entire Sky

Photographer Cessna Kutz captured a rare and beautiful fire rainbow over Lake Sammamish 

Cessna shared her stunning shots on her Instagram and on the caption wrote of her experience. “Witnessed a pretty cool phenomenon out on lake Sammamish today. A horizontal rainbow! To me, it was a little reminder to hold onto hope and love instead of fear and panic in these unknown times. Stay safe out there, friends.”

'Fire rainbows' are not fire nor are they rainbows however but are called so because of their beautiful pastel shades and at times fire like appearance. The technical name - circumhorizontal arc, is an ice halo formed of flat hexagonal ice crystals in only high level cirrus clouds, where the sun must be elevated at 58° or higher for this rare event to occur. The halo is so vast that the arc looks as if it's parallel to the horizon, hence the name.

Your address is also an important factor in the likelihood of you experiencing one of these 'fire rainbows'. They aren't visible north of 55°N or south of 55°S. Although there are times of the year when they can be seen. As an example in London, the sun is high enough between mid-May and the end of July for only 140 hours. Whereas in Los Angeles, the sun is high enough for 670 hours between the end of March and September. This is why it's such a blessing to see this magnificent sight, and for it to have been captured on camera.

Cessna was in shock that after having shared these photographs, they quickly went viral. “I honestly had no idea these photos would make the news... I was just wanting to share a beautiful moment I got to witness. I’m super passionate about photography so I’m grateful that God has used my photos to touch people, not only throughout the nation but throughout the world. It’s boosted my photography business as well as make an impact on people so it feels pretty amazing.” 

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