Rainbow Glows Beneath Menacing Storm Clouds Over Arizona Desert

A rainbow arched across a wall of menacing dark clouds as a severe storm rolled over the desert north of Phoenix on Wednesday, October 21.

X user matt_alv5288, a storm chaser and SKYWARN spotter, filmed the scene from a car driving through New River, writing “Beautiful rainbow over severe storm.” The video shows the faint band of color stretching over saguaro cactuses and desert brush as a heavy, slate-gray storm shelf hangs low over the hills.

The clip was posted just before 4 p.m. local time, as waves of strong to severe thunderstorms swept across the Phoenix area. The National Weather Service had warned of golf ball-size hail and 60 mph wind gusts in Maricopa County that afternoon, and Maricopa County forecasters had singled out the New River and Cave Creek area as the zone with the greatest severe storm threat in the Phoenix Valley, with 1 to 2 inches of rain possible.

Hail as big as golf balls was reported across the northern Valley that afternoon, while northern Arizona was placed under the state’s first tornado watch since 2010.