Rainbow and Lightning Over Tucson, Arizona
October 11, 2009
Photographer: James Pastore
Summary Author: James Pastore; Jim Foster
While I was taking a photo of a double rainbow in Tucson, Arizona in the late afternoon of August 5, 2009, a bolt of lightning, scribbling down from the clouds, fought for my attention. Prominently featured with the lightning and the primary and secondary rainbows is Alexander's dark band, which is the stretch of darkened sky between the bows. See also the Earth Science Picture of the Day for September 17, 2009. Approximately 100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occur each second somewhere on the Earth’s surface. Though the Sun was shining, it still wasn't safe to be outdoors.