Gloomy Day Turns Into Glorious, Ultra Colorful Surprise: Photo Essay

The big autumn rainbow over St. Albans, Vermont on
Monday. 

 I love what I call "come to pappa" moments in my weather geekdom.

Those are the moments when I don't have to seek out any interesting weather. No effort, no muss, no fuss.  

I had one of those wonderful incidents yesterday, when a quick trip to the door to let the dogs out to do their business led to the glorious surprises you see in this post. 

It had been a chilly, gloomy October day.  The skies all day had been gray and overcast, and sporadic showers kept things damp and dank.  Late in the afternoon, the showers intensified as breaks formed between those rain clouds. 

As the sun headed toward the horizon for the evening, all color broke loose.  The combination of dark clouds, bright sun, foliage was just the background.  A brilliant rainbow, one of the brightest I can remember formed behind the house. 

Another view of yesterday's double rainbow and fall
foliage in St. Albans, Vermont. 

I didn't have to go anywhere to enjoy the ultimate autumn show in Vermont. Just open the door and gawk. 

To best look at the photos, click on each one to make them bigger and easier to see. Scroll down past this verbiage as well to check out all the photos. 

I even took a brief video and posted to YouTube. You can see it below the photos, but if you have a mobile device, you'll want to click on this link to view it. 

I'm not sure if today will bring any more happy weather surprises.  The only new "news" to report is that the summit of Mount Mansfield finally touched 32 degrees this morning, making it the latest first freeze of autumn up there. It broke the old record by a whopping 13 days. 

The weather is forecast to be quite variable for the rest of the week into the weekend. Maybe a recipe for more photogenic weather? We'll find out! 

More photos and video:

Double rainbow, fall foliage, dark clouds Monday afternoon
St. Albans, Vermont 

Sun shines brightly on fall colors late Monday afternoon
as dark clouds and rain loom overhead, St. Albans, Vermont. 

Dark clouds, bright sun and fall foliage, St. Albans, Vermont

Roiling clouds and a shaft of rain are lit it by the setting
sun Monday in St.Albans, Vermont. 

Video: Rainbow, setting sun, clouds and foliage in St. Albans, Vermont Monday: