If you had your eye on the sky Wednesday afternoon you may have seen what scientists call a 22° halo.
This ring around the sun (sometimes white, sometimes a rainbow) is caused by high cirrus clouds. For the ring to appear, the clouds must have little ice flecks of 20.5 micrometers or less. Light bounces through the ice, refracting, causing a ring like the one that graced the Bowen skies.
It’s called a 22-degree halo because the light is refracted at a 22 degree angle, so the ring appears to eyes that are at a 22 degree angle from the sun.
Because sun halos are formed in Cirrus clouds, which often arrive before a warm or cold front, they can be indicative of rain or other stormy weather. And indeed – rain is in the forecast for Friday!