Funnel and Bow

February 13, 2017

Waterspout large-53-2 (1)

February 2017 Viewer's Choice

Photographer: Stavros Kesedakis
Summary Authors: Stavros Kesedakis; Jim Foster

A line of strong thunderstorms moved through the southeastern Aegean Sea in late December 2016, generating both the funnel cloud and the rainbow shown above, just off the Isle of Rhodes, Greece. Depending upon your outlook the bow ends in a terrifying spout or the spout is transformed into a peaceful rainbow. The rainbow took shape because the Sun, directly behind the photographer, was fairly low in the sky and shining through the raindrops. Moreover, there's actually no specific distance from an observer where a rainbow can be expected to form. The funnel formation was completely independent of where the Sun was in the sky and whether or not it was shining. It's position relative to the bow was coincidental. Nevertheless, this rainbow and funnel cloud made for quite a spectacle. Photo taken on December 29, 2016.

Photo Details: Camera Model: NIKON D810; Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8; Focal Length: 24mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm); Aperture: ƒ/10.0; Exposure Time: 0.010 s (1/100); ISO equiv: 64; Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.3 (Windows).