Beautiful 'rainbow cloud' spotted over the north-west of Singapore

Submitted by Stomper Hock Kwee

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Stomper Hock Kwee spotted what looked to be an iridescent cloud from Woodlands yesterday (Mar 5) at about 6.30pm.

"Beautiful rainbow clouds spotted in north-west of Singapore," he said.

Sometimes mistaken for a fire rainbow, iridescent clouds occur when light passes through tiny ice crystals or water droplets and is diffracted, creating a rainbow-like effect.

Fire rainbows are an optical phenomenon that is formed when sunlight passes through is refracted by ice crystals in cirrus clouds at a high altitude.