Snowbows and Diamond Dust

 

Today around 1 pm the sun was trying to break through a hazy fog consisting of teeny tiny snowflakes - so small one could not really see them, just feel them... And while I was out in it (for about 25 minutes) they also landed as a thin powdery layer on top of the black cap I was wearing. (As I was wearing a white coat, I did not notice this until I got back home and saw myself in the mirror in the lift on the way up to my flat!).

 

I went for a short walk to the nearest small convenience shop to buy some bananas and a couple of pears, to cover my need of fresh fruit until my next home delivery from the supermarket, booked for Friday.

 

 

 

I didn't actually notice those rainbow-like phenomena in the sky until I got this photo (above) up on my computer screen at home. But I think they too must be to do with that strange icy atmosphere.  (*)

 

 

Yesterday, I saw a hare disappearing into some bushes near a building. I know there are at least one or two hares that I think of as "living" in the old cemetery, but that I also sometimes see (from my windows, at night) grazing on the lawns on the estate where I live. Today, I noticed more evidence (footprints in the snow) of it/them having been around here. No doubt it's difficult for them to find food just now, with the ground all covered in snow - both here and "there"... 

 

 * * *

 

* I googled "rainbow in snow" and got this AI summary:

 

A "rainbow in snow," or snowbow, is a rare, faint arc of color (or white) caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in falling or blowing snow, rather than water droplets like a normal rainbow. Snowbows are often muted and harder to see because snowflakes are complex shapes, making them less effective at creating distinct colors, and they usually appear at sunrise or sunset when conditions are right. 

 

How it forms:

• Light & Ice Crystals: Sunlight hits ice crystals in the air (like snowflakes or diamond dust). **
• Refraction: The light bends (refracts) and splits into colors as it passes through the crystals, similar to a regular rainbow.
• Faint Colors: Because snowflakes are imperfect and complex, the colors often blend, resulting in a paler, sometimes white, arc known as a white rainbow or fogbow. 

I like the word "diamond dust", because that's exactly what it felt like when I first got out for my walk today. So I had to look that up as well, and here is what Wikipedia says:

 

Diamond dust is a ground-level cloud composed of tiny ice crystals. This meteorological phenomenon is also referred to simply as ice crystals and is reported in the METAR code as IC. Diamond dust generally forms under otherwise clear or nearly clear skies, so it is sometimes referred to as clear-sky precipitation. Diamond dust is most commonly observed in Antarctica and the Arctic, but can occur anywhere with a temperature well below freezing. In the polar regions of Earth, diamond dust may persist for several days without interruption.