Did You Miss The Iridescent Rainbow Clouds in Rockford This Weekend?

Maybe I just missed this day of science class, but I've never heard of Pileus Iridescent Clouds before today. I was today year's old when I learned clouds could be RAINBOW. Isn't that amazing?

Being someone who is obsessed with everything rainbow, this facebook post stopped my scrolling immediately. Just take a look for yourself -

Like... WHAT? And if you check out the comments there's even more photos from people around Illinois who saw them!

I went looking on Twitter and it turns out these are a pretty rare sight. But here's another awesome example of what these clouds can look like -

So what causes this? According to National Geographic -

Sometimes moisture in that air suddenly condenses into tiny droplets to form a cap cloud." This "cap"—which scientists call a "pileus"—is the source of the brilliant spectacle. "The droplets in the cap cloud scatter sunlight to form the gorgeous colors.

Mother Nature, you're beautiful. Thanks for showing us some rare beauty during this weird time in life.

H/T WTVO