Double rainbow mystifies Lansing region after tornado warning. How rare are these?

CHARLOTTE — An erratic afternoon and evening of weather Sunday in the Lansing region produced some beauty that has gone viral online. 

Residents from Charlotte to Haslett captured images and videos of a double rainbow that emerged early Sunday evening after a tornado warning was issued and eventually canceled in Eaton County. 

One of the best images found on social media Monday was taken by Vincent Brady, 31, of Charlotte, while he stood atop a three-story building downtown. 

Brady's photo, taken with a Samsung S9+ phone, shows the double rainbow spanning for what appeared to be several miles behind rows of residential homes. 

"This is definitely the sharpest, clearest double rainbow that I've ever seen," Brady said Monday. "I've seen them before, but they were faint." 

Brady said he took the photo at 7:40 p.m. while he stood atop Charlotte's Windwalker Underground Gallery at 125 Cochran Ave. 

Frequency unknown

It's unclear how rare double rainbows are in mid-Michigan, according to the National Weather Service's Grand Rapids office. 

Rainbows of any size are formed by a mix of light and precipitation.

The mix of colors a rainbow can produce are similar to those that can be seen through misty water sprayed from a garden house on a sunny day, said Nathan Jeruzal, an NWS meteorologist.

"I don't think there's any kind of frequency (that can be tracked)," Jeruzal said of double rainbows. "It really depends on what angle you're sitting at and where the light is coming from." 

A 2014 story written by Chrissy Warrilow, posted on the Weather Channel's website, said rainbows only occur when refracted sunlight strikes the raindrop's edge at 48-degree angle. 

There are scenarios under these circumstances when three and even four rainbows can form at the same time, the story said. 

'Gift from God'

Dan Mark, 46, of Haslett, took a photo Sunday night of the double rainbow with an iPhone 7 while he and his wife, Shell, stood on their apartment balcony overlooking Lake of the Hills. 

The lake is located in Haslett inside the borders of Lake Lansing, Okemos, Haslett and Marsh roads. 

Mark described the double double rainbow as the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. 

"Definitely a little gift from God on a Sunday night," Mark said. "You could see it spanning from one edge to the other." 

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Solved: The Mystery of Double Rainbows

Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.

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