From the atoptics site:
"Does it foretell of rain? Not necessarily. High cirrostratus cloud forms the halo and this same cloud can be on the advancing edge of a warm front with its associated heavy rain. If a wind stirs from the south west, the sky becomes hazy, a halo forms around the sun which is then dimmed and finally obscured by increasingly thick cloud then rain is likely within a few hours. But very many halos are not associated with frontal systems and to see one is not at all a reliable sign of wet weather. "
Yah, I've been watching the weather. No rain in sight. I do remember.... 2005? being on the phone with my brother and looking up at night and seeing the biggest, densest, brightest ring ever. I remember being startled and blurting out 'Holy Cow!' or something along that line. We had a huge storm about 5 days later, then the 154 fell down. Then the next storm Old San Marcos had a massive slide. We were forced to either drive E. Camino Cielo down Gibraltar to get to town, or drive up to Santa Ynez and come down the 101.
I had to think about the 22 degrees size of the halo for a minute before I remembered that the distance between two points in the sky can be expressed in terms of azimuth (the width of your outstretched fist is about 10 degrees). Need more coffee.
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Nov 30, 2020 02:53 PMThat's the classic 22 degree lunar halo caused by refractive ice crystals high in our atmosphere.
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/circmoon.htm
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Nov 30, 2020 04:23 PMI've always associated that with incoming rain.... days or a week out depending on how far out the ring is.
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Nov 30, 2020 06:30 PMThe lunar halo is always 22 degrees in radius. There is a very rare 46 degree halo that may appear around the Sun.
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Dec 01, 2020 02:14 AMThanks Mac, as always for your scientific and precise description of things ! (beats the old "almanac's folk stories ..)
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Nov 30, 2020 06:04 PMFarmer's Almanac used this to predict rain.
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/ring-around-the-moon-9657
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Nov 30, 2020 06:35 PMFrom the atoptics site:
"Does it foretell of rain? Not necessarily. High cirrostratus cloud forms the halo and this same cloud can be on the advancing edge of a warm front with its associated heavy rain. If a wind stirs from the south west, the sky becomes hazy, a halo forms around the sun which is then dimmed and finally obscured by increasingly thick cloud then rain is likely within a few hours. But very many halos are not associated with frontal systems and to see one is not at all a reliable sign of wet weather. "
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Nov 30, 2020 06:25 PMNo rain in sight
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Nov 30, 2020 06:53 PMYah, I've been watching the weather. No rain in sight. I do remember.... 2005? being on the phone with my brother and looking up at night and seeing the biggest, densest, brightest ring ever. I remember being startled and blurting out 'Holy Cow!' or something along that line. We had a huge storm about 5 days later, then the 154 fell down. Then the next storm Old San Marcos had a massive slide. We were forced to either drive E. Camino Cielo down Gibraltar to get to town, or drive up to Santa Ynez and come down the 101.
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Dec 02, 2020 10:25 AMI had to think about the 22 degrees size of the halo for a minute before I remembered that the distance between two points in the sky can be expressed in terms of azimuth (the width of your outstretched fist is about 10 degrees). Need more coffee.