Strange Colors in the sky sunset 7-11-10

Has anyone ever seen the sky with colors like this at dusk... The clouds were orange, some were bright, and some had lots of orange color to them. The western sky was primarily blue, and the southern to south eastern sky changed to a murky orange brown very quickly. This murky color wasn't as clear as the orange was on the video.

My son starts filming this and then I took the camera. The power lines run east to west, and the pole barn is on the south side. If you watch in the first minute there is orange in the south, then when I get back to it a couple minutes later the orange isn't present. However the north and north east continued to have the most color.

I have seen many beautiful sunsets and sunrises, however non of them had hues at the opposite direction from the sun.

We are in central US not near the Gulf. Would like input about this strange phenomenon.

Has anyone ever seen the sky with colors like this at dusk... The clouds were orange, some were bright, and some had lots of orange color to them. The western sky was primarily blue, and the southern to south eastern sky changed to a murky orange brown very quickly. This murky color wasn't as clear as the orange was on the video.

My son starts filming this and then I took the camera. The power lines run east to west, and the pole barn is on the south side. If you watch in the first minute there is orange in the south, then when I get back to it a couple minutes later the orange isn't present. However the north and north east continued to have the most color.

I have seen many beautiful sunsets and sunrises, however non of them had hues at the opposite direction from the sun.

We are in central US not near the Gulf. Would like input about this strange phenomenon.

Has anyone ever seen the sky with colors like this at dusk... The clouds were orange, some were bright, and some had lots of orange color to them. The western sky was primarily blue, and the southern to south eastern sky changed to a murky orange brown very quickly. This murky color wasn't as clear as the orange was on the video.

My son starts filming this and then I took the camera. The power lines run east to west, and the pole barn is on the south side. If you watch in the first minute there is orange in the south, then when I get back to it a couple minutes later the orange isn't present. However the north and north east continued to have the most color.

I have seen many beautiful sunsets and sunrises, however non of them had hues at the opposite direction from the sun.

We are in central US not near the Gulf. Would like input about this strange phenomenon.





Possibly what you saw are earthquake lights. Clouds with pink to orange hues against a blue background that precede a significant earthquake.

See wikipedia on it:

An earthquake light, is an unusual luminous aerial phenomenon, that reportedly appears in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions. Once commonly challenged, it was not until photographs were taken during the Matsushiro earthquake swarm in Nagano, Japan, from 1965 through 1967, that the seismology community acknowledged their occurrence.

The lights are reported to appear while an earthquake is occurring, although there are reports of lights before or after earthquakes, such as reports concerning the 1975 Kalapana earthquake.[2] They are reported to have shapes similar to those of the auroras, with a white to bluish hue, but occasionally [OFTEN] they have been reported having a wider color spectrum [vivid pinks, oranges, blues]. The luminosity is reported to be visible for several seconds, but has also been reported to last for tens of minutes. Accounts of viewable distance from the epicenter varies, in the 1930 Idu earthquake, lights were reported up to 70 miles from the epicenter.[3] Earthquake lights were reportedly spotted in Tianshui, Gansu, approximately 400 km north-northeast of the earthquakes epicenter.[4] The phenomenon was also widely observed and caught on film during the 2007 Peru, 2008 Sichuan, 2009 L'Aquila[5], and 2010 Chile earthquakes.[6] The phenomenon was also reported around the Aimuri Earthquake in New Zealand, that occurred 1 September 1888. The lights were visible in the morning of 1 September in Reefton, and again on the 8th of September.

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

[edit] Theories

I found this on the New Madrid fault. The sky has been doing strange things for a few months. Nothing like this though. Same types of colors just deeper hues. I will keep it in mind.

we get sunsets like that all the time in California... they are quite beautiful

the blue sky and the pink or orange clouds :)

Has anyone ever seen the sky with colors like this at dusk... The clouds were orange, some were bright, and some had lots of orange color to them. The western sky was primarily blue, and the southern to south eastern sky changed to a murky orange brown very quickly. This murky color wasn't as clear as the orange was on the video.

My son starts filming this and then I took the camera. The power lines run east to west, and the pole barn is on the south side. If you watch in the first minute there is orange in the south, then when I get back to it a couple minutes later the orange isn't present. However the north and north east continued to have the most color.

I have seen many beautiful sunsets and sunrises, however non of them had hues at the opposite direction from the sun.

We are in central US not near the Gulf. Would like input about this strange phenomenon.

Thread: When you see the Blue Clouds - take cover

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we get sunsets like that all the time in California... they are quite beautiful

the blue sky and the pink or orange clouds :)


It's for that reason that I didn't see anything unusual in the video - we get beautiful clouds like this in California a lot, asHillcrest described.

Haven't noticed it here in LA, but in the part of the Bay Area I come from, we can tell if the weather is going to be warm the next day by the colors of the sunset. Bright orange to red sunsets indicate it will be hot the next day. I'm not kidding about this.

p.s. the video in the OP looks nothing like "Rainbow Clouds" that allegedly preceed earthquakes.

we get sunsets like that all the time in California... they are quite beautiful

the blue sky and the pink or orange clouds :)


It's for that reason that I didn't see anything unusual in the video - we get beautiful clouds like this in California a lot, asHillcrest described.

Haven't noticed it here in LA, but in the part of the Bay Area I come from, we can tell if the weather is going to be warm the next day by the colors of the sunset. Bright orange to red sunsets indicate it will be hot the next day. I'm not kidding about this.

p.s. the video in the OP looks nothing like "Rainbow Clouds" that allegedly preceed earthquakes.


The sunset issue isn't a problem with me so long as the red hues are on the west. What this video missed was when I first realized the orange hue outside most of the clouds you see in this video were bright orange. Even the ones to the far east. This drew my attention because there was a golden hue coming in my east window as if the sun was rising! It was the west where the sun was setting that was blue!! I've never in my life (I'm old enough!) seen the hues over the east for a sunset. I've lived all over the country, from the great lakes to the west coast and even Hawaii, seen thousands of sunsets and this has never occurred... I don't know what it is.

Very observant! Our sunsets here in the Northwest will have some orange clouds in the west, the north and south will be normal, then the clouds in the east will be completely orange just like the video. I've sent emails to every local weather station what could cause that, I don't even get a form letter reply. I've never seen it before a few months ago, but now it's common here.

Very observant! Our sunsets here in the Northwest will have some orange clouds in the west, the north and south will be normal, then the clouds in the east will be completely orange just like the video. I've sent emails to every local weather station what could cause that, I don't even get a form letter reply. I've never seen it before a few months ago, but now it's common here.



Hmmmm guess I will give sending the video to our local weather men. There are several small stations here that hire fresh college students who might explain it... If there's an explanation that is. If not, then maybe your meteorologist don't want to acknowledge that they don't know what causes it.

Live in Central Canada and have seen clouds like that for as long as I can remember and I am over 40.
They don't happen every day, but are certainly common enough.
I have seen them brilliant gold/bronze color on several occasions, and one time they filled the sky from horizon to horizon for about 45 minutes, then the sun passed its angle and they changed into more mundane colors again.
Nothing to worry about.