Stephen Ingram (Member 7,328) has grown accustomed to seeing clouds unleash showers which never reach the ground. Owens Valley, California, US is situated in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The mountains draw moisture from the air that flows over them, leaving little for Owens Valley to receive on the leeward side.

Stephen leans into these almost-rain displays: ‘It is better to see virga than a dull, cloudless sky,’ he tells us. ‘And it is better to see a “virgabow” than to see no bow at all.’

Virga is precipitation that dissipates away before it hits the ground. It appears as streaks hanging like jellyfish tentacles from the cloud base, and it can be composed either of water drops or ice crystals, depending on the atmospheric conditions beneath the cloud. Stephen’s virga here were definitely made of water drops. We know that thanks to their vibrant rainbow – or, as he called it (and we love the name), the ‘virgabow’.