Michigan Fall Color: Double Rainbow Edition

Posted on by farlane
Fall Color Tour in Northern Michigan Rainbow edition by James Eye View Photography

Fall Color Tour in Northern Michigan Rainbow edition by James Eye View Photography

mLive’s Mark Torregrossa shares that if you think there’s more rainbows out there than usual, you are correct! He explains the science behind Michigan’s rainbow bonanza:

To have rainbows, we need rain and sun at the same time. What weather pattern is classic for rain and sun at the same time? The current lake-effect rain shower situation is perfect for rainbows. The rain showers are small, maybe only five miles wide. There is a lot of clear sky around the rain showers.

…So we know why we have had and currently have a lot of rainbows in Michigan in the past few days- the spotty lake-effect showers combined with sunshine. But why have there been numerous double rainbows? It has to do with the angle of the sun, combined with the daily weather pattern.

For a double rainbow, the sun has to be fairly low on the horizon, lower than 40 degrees above the horizon. It just so happens the lake-effect showers reach their peak intensity and coverage during the late afternoon heating of the day, when the sun is low on the horizon.

James took these last Friday on the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. You can follow him on Facebook & Instagram. For sure visit his website to view & purchase his work including 2025 Photo Calendars.

Wildly enough, I featured Double Rainbow Sunrise from James last year – he clearly has a next level knack for rainbows!!

Support Michigan in Pictures with Patreon

6 thoughts on “Michigan Fall Color: Double Rainbow Edition”

  2. That was interesting – double rainbows is something I’ve not seen before, even seeing a single rainbow has been awhile for me. I don’t see Mark Torregrossa on “X” anymore … I wonder if I got unsubscribed to him somehow?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I just followed him on Facebook and there I can get the forecasts because I have an adblocker and MLive won’t let me read an article, so I have to switch browsers to read it, but I must have gotten unsubscribed to him at X. (That happens sometimes here at WP.) I wonder if Bagel has a record for a beagle’s longevity – that’s a great lifespan for him and, as he says, 110 in human years. Thanks for the link!

        Like

Leave a comment