Sunbreak

The sunlight shining through these clouds in England is an example of sunbreak.

A sunbreak is a natural phenomenon in which sunlight obscured over a relatively large area penetrates the obscuring material in a localized space. The typical example is of sunlight shining through a hole in cloud cover. A sunbreak piercing clouds normally produces a visible shaft of light reflected by atmospheric dust, called a sunbeam. Another form of sunbreak occurs when sunlight passes into an area otherwise shadowed by surrounding large buildings through a gap temporarily aligned with the position of the sun.

The word is considered by some to have origins in Pacific Northwest English.^[1]

In art

Artists such as cartoonists and filmmakers often use sunbreak to show protection or relief being brought upon an area of land by God or a receding storm.

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