"Every cloud has a silver lining."

On Jun. 11, 2024, Tan Meng Aun and his two daughters were having a delightful conversation about this particular proverb.

"Every cloud has a silver lining"

Little did they know, this phrase that was meant to inspire hope and positivity in difficult situations manifested into reality.

At 3:55pm, as Tan and his daughters looked out of the window to search for a literal cloud with a silver lining, the family beheld an unexpected marvel outside their home window.

An iridescent cloud was seen amidst the gloomy sky.

Speaking to Mothership, Tan remarked that the iridescent cloud was "far more exciting and unique" than the silver lining that they were looking for.

Tan and his family were exhilarated to witness this phenomenon for the first time.

They crowded around the window to take in the spectacle with their eyes and their phones.

Tan described that the iridescent cloud had "a vivid red halo banded by yellow and blue [tones]".

As the clouds gradually shifted, so did the colours.

Tan marvelled at the colours slowly turning to green and blue, which he commented was unconventional of rainbows.

The whole phenomenon lasted only a few minutes before the rainbow vanished.

Shortly, the rain took over the skyline.

Tan said to Mothership, "It was really pure luck, or a blessing you could say, that we saw it when we did."

"Rainbow cloud"

This was not the first time a "rainbow cloud", as Tan initially dubbed it, made its appearance in Singapore.

This rare, natural phenomenon is known as cloud iridescence.

Iridescent clouds are products of tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air diffracting light to create a rainbow effect.

Larger ice crystals may also produce lunar or solar halos.

Cloud iridescence usually occurs behind fluffy cumulus clouds, giving rise to their beautiful outline.

The colours seen in cloud iridescence are often randomly distributed, compared to colours in similar phenomena such as the circumhorizon arcs.

As they occur relatively near the sun, the sunlight may sometimes overwhelm the colours in the cloud.

The next time you are met with a gloomy day, look for the silver lining in every cloud.

If you're lucky, you might find one with an iridescent lining too.

Top photos courtesy of Tan Meng Aun