What Is a Snowbow?

A snowbow is a fairly rare phenomenon that forms when sunlight is reflected and refracted by ice crystals in the air (just as a normal rainbow is produced by the reflection and refraction of sunlight by raindrops).

Is there such thing as a Snowbow?

They cannot form a “snowbow” — a rainbow seen while snow is falling — because rainbows need spherical raindrops. ... The entrance and exit refractions split the light into rainbow colors.

What is a winter rainbow called?

Sundog Formation

Sundogs can and do occur worldwide and during all seasons, but they are most common during winter months when ice crystals are more abundant. ... The ice crystals act like prisms, and as sunlight passes through them, it bends, separating into its component color wavelengths.