The skies above Bucks County looked like something out a science fiction movie Tuesday evening. A heavy orange hue, later a soft pink color, coated the puffy clouds and filled neighborhoods.
So, what caused the strange coloring?
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The strange coloring was part of a natural process that is best explained by the National Weather Service:
The orange hue is caused by the same process that causes the vivid colors at sunsets. Shorter wavelengths of light (blue) are scattered quickly, leaving only the yellow-orange-red end of the spectrum.
The puffy clouds that were turned orange Tuesday evening following the storm system are called mammatus clouds. They usually come before or follow after thunderstorms, much like on Tuesday evening. They consist of ice crystals that begin to fall to the air below.
The University of Illinois explains:
As updrafts carry precipitation enriched air to the cloud top, upward momentum is lost and the air begins to spread out horizontally, becoming a part of the anvil cloud. Because of its high concentration of precipitation particles (ice crystals and water droplets), the saturated air is heavier than the surrounding air and sinks back towards the earth.
The temperature of the subsiding air increases as it descends. However, since heat energy is required to melt and evaporate the precipitation particles contained within the sinking air, the warming produced by the sinking motion is quickly used up in the evaporation of precipitation particles. If more energy is required for evaporation than is generated by the subsidence, the sinking air will be cooler than its surroundings and will continue to sink downward.
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Now you know.
@levittownnow timelapse from Levittown looking towards Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/GO5OKrTyFL
— Greg Plefka (@gplefka) June 23, 2015
@levittownnow and now… pic.twitter.com/Vji7bsXNEe
— Greg Plefka (@gplefka) June 24, 2015
