Weather

Stunning DC Rainbow Photos Will Blow Your Mind

The severe storms we were supposed to get ended up passing us by, but they still put on quite a show.

Dan Taylor's profile picture
Dan Taylor, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge

Thankfully, the D.C. area was largely spared of punishment from a line of severe storms that moved through the area on Thursday. And we got to enjoy the fruits of it anyway: spectacular rainbows over the D.C. landscape.

Social media was flooded with countless photos of the rainbows that stretched over D.C., and a few of them were nothing short of jaw-dropping.

We've featured the best of them below. Enjoy.

Find out what's happening in Washington DCfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

So how exactly does a rainbow form? Basically, it's a meteorological phenomenon caused by reflection and refraction of light in water droplets, hence why they always accompany rain storms. The water droplets act as a prism, separating the light into each of its different wavelengths. Because rainbows are caused by sunlight, they always appear in the section of sky that is directly opposite of the sun.

Sometimes, you can see a double rainbow. In those cases, you may notice that the colors are reversed. That is due to the light being reflected twice on the inside of the droplets.

Find out what's happening in Washington DCfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"A rainbow does not exist at one particular location," according to Wikipedia. "Many rainbows exist; however, only one can be seen depending on the particular observer's viewpoint as droplets of light illuminated by the sun. All raindrops refract and reflect the sunlight in the same way, but only the light from some raindrops reaches the observer's eye. This light is what constitutes the rainbow for that observer."

(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

More from Washington DC