'Fire Rainbow' Supplants Double Rainbow As Social Media Rainbow Of Choice

South Carolina #blessed by rare optical phenomenon.
A "fire rainbow" captured by Instagram user mkhala24 above Island of Palms, South Carolina, on Aug. 16, 2015.

A "fire rainbow" captured by Instagram user mkhala24 above Island of Palms, South Carolina, on Aug. 16, 2015.

Credit: mkhala24/Instagram

It's no double rainbow, but for lucky residents of South Carolina, this rare cloud feature was something to get excited about.

Multicolored clouds, colloquially called a "fire rainbow," graced the skies over the Southern state on Sunday afternoon, CBS News reported.

"When I looked up I was truly in awe," Tiffany Jenks, of Mount Pleasant, told CBS News. "The world today is so full strife, but just for that brief moment ... I seemed to step back and remember how beautiful our planet really is."

Also known as a circumhorizontal arc, the phenomenon occurs when sunlight hits ice crystals in cirrus clouds at the right angle. It only happens when the sun is high in the sky -- 58 degrees above the horizon, according to The Independent.

Jenks said that the fire rainbow reminded her of the Dave Matthews Band fire dancer insignia. To others, the clouds looked like angels' wings.

Many people lucky enough to see the rainbow couldn't help snapping pictures and posting them to Instagram.

How many of you were lucky enough to see this Fire Rainbow on Sunday? It happens when the sun is at the precisely perfect angle!

A photo posted by Official Account Charleston SC (@charlestonsc) on

Rainbow

A photo posted by Carlos Sorzano Paillie (@titosorzanop) on

Most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. #paintthesky

A photo posted by Mikhala Cooper (@mkhala24) on

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