THE CLOUD THAT WORE A RAINBOW CROWN

 THE CLOUD THAT WORE A RAINBOW CROWN 

 Tampa Bay Causeway, Florida, USA

That “rainbow rim” happens when the cloud’s highest ice crystals and tiny droplets line up just right, bending and diffracting sunlight into an iridescent edge. It’s the kind of effect you usually only catch for seconds… but this one held long enough to make the whole sky look unreal.

Below it, the storm tower kept climbing — a classic late-summer Florida thunderhead, fed by warm ocean air and heat still trapped in the evening atmosphere. The road stayed calm, the water stayed dark, and above the causeway the cloud looked like it was wearing a crown.

For a few minutes, it didn’t feel like weather. It felt like a scene.