Especially epic double rainbow mesmerizes Milledgeville and Baldwin County

"Wow! I wonder if other people are seeing this?" some folks around Baldwin County may have thought late Monday afternoon.

Well, it turns out that the answer is plenty of other people, with this being the especially large double rainbow that dominated the sky as the sun began to set. Photos began pouring into social media, and it turns out that the epic double rainbow was visible in Bibb and several other surrounding counties.

One of those people was Milledgeville's Caterena Higginbottom Lisse, who was leaving the gym late Monday afternoon when she first laid eyes on the double rainbow. Lisse, a professor of chemistry at Georgia College & State University, said that Baldwin County was treated to something very rare.

"That was one of the most complete double rainbows that I've ever seen, in terms of its full visibility and being rounded off on both sides," she said. "It was amazing."

It turns out that Monday's double rainbow was the result of a "perfect storm" of events. For one, remnants of Hurricane Debby resulted in a line of showers from the south, according to Lisse. The larger-sized raindrops from Debby also assisted, because "large raindrops tend to produce more vivid rainbows, including double rainbows." Also, the sky was clear in the direction opposite of the rain, another requirement for any epic rainbow.

"A double rainbow is most commonly seen when you have rain showers with the sun low in the sky behind you and a clear view of the rain ahead," Lisse said.

Keep in mind, however, just because it wasn't raining at your house during the double rainbow doesn't mean that it wasn't raining elsewhere. Some rainbows are only visible for several miles, while others can be seen for upwards of 100 miles, according to Lisse. Monday's double rainbow was visible from several counties away, due west and southwest. Also, raindrops often fizzle out in the atmosphere prior to reaching the earth's surface.

Baldwin2k reached out to its Facebook followers on Tuesday and asked for people to post their best double rainbow pics. The results did not disappoint. It turns out that Lake Sinclair made for an especially serene foreground...

Then, there was the bucolic...

Meanwhile, Baldwin2k managed to capture these from across the river and off of Lake Laurel Road...

Many people still most commonly associate double rainbows with "Double Rainbow Guy," the star of a viral video back in 2009. 

Sadly, Paul "Double Rainbow Guy" Vasquez passed away back in 2o2o after living a very interesting life...