Bowcast

Rainbow forecast for Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada / United States: live rainbow odds for today, the best hour to look up, and the week ahead.

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Checking about 40 forecast models for sunlit rain near Niagara Falls…

Open the live map for Niagara Falls

Rainbow weather in Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls has a shortcut the rest of the world lacks: the falls make their own rain. On any sunny day, spray rainbows obey the sun rather than the weather, appearing whenever the geometry lines up: sun behind you, mist in front, sun lower than 42 degrees. Weather-made bows happen here too, on shower days.

Wherever you are, the rules are the same: a rainbow forms opposite the sun, only while the sun is less than 42 degrees above the horizon, and most often in the minutes after a shower moves through. The gauge above runs those rules against live ensemble forecasts for the 12 km around Niagara Falls.

Rainbow questions, answered

When do rainbows appear in Niagara Falls?
Rainbows need sunlit rain with the sun lower than 42 degrees, so in Niagara Falls the best windows are the hours after sunrise and before sunset on showery days. Around nine in ten rainbows appear in the hour right after rain stops.
Where should I look for a rainbow in Niagara Falls?
Always directly opposite the sun: put the sun at your back and look toward the retreating rain. In the evening that means looking east; in the morning, west.
What is the rainbow chance in Niagara Falls today?
Bowcast computes it live from ensemble weather models: about 40 forecast runs are checked for sunlit-rain conditions around Niagara Falls, hour by hour, for the next 7 days. The live figure is on this page and on the map.

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