Fabled pots of gold aside, witnessing a rainbow is a marvelous experience. The occurrence on Sunday evening had many Long Islanders posting their photographic evidence on various social media outlets.
One gem is from Lakeville Road at the Northern State Parkway, taken by Vivian Sasson.
Not to get all scientific on you, but a rainbow forms from the path of a ray of sunlight through a single raindrop. According to the National Weather Service:
As light enters the raindrop, it is refracted (the path of the light is bent to a different angle), and some of the light is reflected by the internal, curved, mirror-like surface of the raindrop, and finally is refracted back out the raindrop toward the observer.
Several user-submitted photos included a double rainbow. A double rainbow occurs when the ray emerges from the raindrop at a different angle, producing a reflection of the primary rainbow.
Patch put a call out for readers to share their rainbow photos with us. Enjoy these and upload your own if you snapped one!
