Did You Catch This Rare Rainbow around the Sun in Central New York?

One of the most beautiful sights was in plain view over the Mohawk Valley. Did you see it?

It's been an intense stretch of weather. Since the start of 2025, Central New York has been battered by nonstop lake effect snow and intense blasts of arctic air.

This round of brutal winter has led to catastrophic roof collapses, some of which resulted in the death of valuable livestock.

Read More: Up to 60 Pregnant Cows Killed in Horrific Barn Collapse in Lee Center

This winter season will arguably go down as one of the worst in recent history, which is leading many to enjoy the brief respites of warmer weather and clear, sunny skies.

Last weekend provided some peeks of sunshine and those who looked up at the skies late Friday caught an ultra rare spectacle.

A rainbow formed a perfect halo around the sun!

This gorgeous yet rare phenomenon, affectionately called a "sunbow", is caused when ice crystals in the clouds refract the sun's light.

These halos, which can form around the sun and moon, are often white in color - but this one had flashes of prismatic color!

These photos were taken during my walk through Clark Mills. Unfortunately, my phone's camera was unable to capture the rainbow.

Believe me, I was toying around with every setting in hopes of capturing what I was seeing with my own eyes.

A rainbow, or halo, around the sun is an optical phenomenon that is often attributed to several superstitions.

The most common being that a ring around the sun or moon is that inclement weather is around the corner, most often believed to be a massive storm.

However, this superstition is not proven fact, the National Weather Service says. If anything, a ring around the sun or moon shows there's moisture in the air.

Fox Weather adds that a ring around the sun or moon can be a signal rain is on the way.

Interestingly, a storm is heading toward Central New York that is expected to strike midweek. Unlike what we've seen all winter, this particular system will dump rain instead of snow on the area due to a welcome warmup in the temperature.

A Hazardous Weather Outlook has been issued by the NWS, which warns of potential ice jams due to the above average temperatures and rainfall.

Wednesday's high will hit slightly over 50 degrees in the Utica area, while Thursday is expected to hit around 45 during the daytime.

Did anyone else catch this rare phenomenon on Friday? Send us your photos using the station app below.

Get our free mobile app