Yellow Rainshower

On August 13, I could witness another atmospheric phenomenon in Bochum, Germany.

In the evening, about half an hour before sunset, a rainshower approached from the west. Behind the shower, the sky cleared up very rapidly, so that the low evening sun could shine through the veil of rain. This caused very strange light conditions I never experienced before.

First there was a yellow squall line visible, followed by a bright yellow veil of precipitation. As it came nearer, another shelfcloud-like structure passed from south to east. This cloud was also strangely illuminated and showed orange and brownish colours.

The squall line in the western and northwestern part of the sky turned more and more orange, too, while the rain got an intense and bright yellow. The whole landscape was bathing in a strange and intense yellow light with orange-coloured clouds above and in the east.

When it began to rain, a rainbow appeared in the east, visible as a full semi-circle. The blue part of the bow had already gone, only red, yellow and a faint green were visible.

Then the sun sank beneath the horizon, and all colours faded away within a few minutes. So there was no really red rainbow that evening, but nevertheless it had been very impressive to me.

Author: Peter Krämer, Bochum, Germany