What Does It Mean When The Sky Is Yellow?

yellow sky over Marshfield OnFocus – An eerie yellow glow is covering the sky throughout Central Wisconsin this morning, but experts say this doesn’t mean it’s the End of Days. A yellow sky often indicates there is a winter storm brewing during a relatively warm day.

Why does the sky turn yellow?

Why Is It Yellow Outside? The Science Explained Scientific reasons behind that eerie yellow sky (that have nothing to do with the apocalypse) You glance outside on a perfectly normal afternoon and notice the sky is glowing an eerie yellow—but why? A yellow sky can definitely look ominous, but don’t worry, there’s a perfectly logical explanation for that unusual yellowish tint.

The most common cause of a yellow sky is storm clouds. The clouds scatter the blue light coming from the sun, and this makes the light look yellow to us.
Dust storms, pollen, and smoke in the atmosphere can also cause it to look yellow outside for the same reason: they scatter the blue light in the sky.
A yellow sky doesn’t necessarily mean a tornado or hurricane is on the way. Any kind of storm cloud can cause the sky to look yellowish (or even greenish).

1 Storm clouds A brewing storm (especially a late afternoon storm) is the most common reason for that eerie yellow cast that sometimes happens outside. The clouds scatter the short wavelengths of blue light that come from the sun, and when that scattered light is projected into the sky, it can look yellowish from our perspective here on earth.
- When the clouds themselves look yellow, it’s most likely due to the molecules of water inside of them. The molecules are blue, so when the light reflects off them and scatters, the clouds can look yellowish.
2 Sun’s position on the horizon Scattered blue light is to blame, but in this case, the scattering is caused by the sun being low on the horizon. When the sun is low, the light passes through more air than it does during the day (when the sun is high in the sky). Natural molecules in the atmosphere scatter the violet and blue light away from our eyes, resulting in those gorgeous sunrise/sunset hues: yellow, orange, and red. Advertisement
3 Dust in the atmosphere It’s strange to think that dust from a faraway place can influence the way the sky looks where you are, but it happens occasionally. In 2017, dust from the Sahara desert was blasted into the atmosphere due to a strong storm that swept across Europe. All that dust and moisture scattered the blue light in the sky over the United Kingdom, making it glow a deep yellow color.
4 Heavy pollen High winds during peak pollen season can whip large amounts of pollen high up into the sky, scattering the blue light rays until everything looks yellowish. The pollen is usually yellow, as well, which makes the color even more vivid. An incident like this occurred in May 2022 in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
5 Smoke from wildfires Just like with the storm clouds and dust, smoke in the atmosphere can scatter the normal blue light until the sky turns a smoggy yellow color. It takes quite a lot of smoke for this to happen, so this scenario is pretty rare—it usually happens during extremely large wildfires (like the ones that tend to occur in California and along the West Coast).

No, it’s a myth that a yellow sky means a tornado is on the way. A yellow sky usually just means a thunderstorm storm is brewing. Storm clouds can scatter the normal blue light in the sky, which sometimes creates a creepy yellow or even greenish glow (especially late afternoon storms when the sun is lower on the horizon).
- A yellow or greenish sky also doesn’t mean a hurricane is coming. In most cases, if you see dark clouds, you can expect a regular thunderstorm.
- Thunderstorms are usually pretty safe as long as you take shelter, but it never hurts to be prepared for severe weather.

A yellow sky can look ominous, but rest assured it’s natural and normal. Despite the perfectly reasonable scientific explanations, this phenomenon is actually quite rare. And since we’re very accustomed to our serene blue sky, that yellowish hue can look a bit haunting and unnatural. No matter what anyone says, though, the world isn’t about to end and extreme weather is not necessarily imminent.
- Check local weather reports and recent news stories for clues. If local meteorologists are expecting storms, or if you run across a news article about sand storms, wildfires, or extreme pollen, you’ll know for sure what’s happening.

Ask a Question Advertisement This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer,, Amber Crain has been a member of wikiHow’s writing staff for the last six years. She graduated from the University of Houston where she majored in Classical Studies and minored in Painting.

Before coming to wikiHow, she worked in a variety of industries including marketing, education, and music journalism. She’s been a radio DJ for 10+ years and currently DJs a biweekly music program on the award-winning internet radio station DKFM. Her work at wikiHow supports her lifelong passion for learning and her belief that knowledge belongs to anyone who desires to seek it.

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Is it normal for the sky to be yellow at night?

An evening thunderstorm may turn the sky slightly yellow or orange. – Oftentimes, the sky will appear yellow when a thunderstorm occurs, According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, thunderstorms most often occur in the late afternoon or early evening, around the same time when the sun is beginning to set.

Though the sun is blocked by clouds, the process of a sunset still happens, and it still emits colors.
Therefore, a yellow-ish-orange hue may become visible through the clouds.
If you aren’t familiar with what causes the color emissions from sunsets, short wavelengths of blue light are scattered rapidly, which leaves the yellow, orange, and red colors at the end of the spectrum.

These colors are projected through the sky, despite the clouds, leaving a haunting yet gorgeous yellow hue. Article continues below advertisement Source: iStock

Why is the sky yellow at sunset?

Curiosities: What determines the colors of the sky at sunrise and sunset? The colors of the sunset result from a phenomenon called scattering, says, professor of meteorology at UW–Madison. Molecules and small particles in the atmosphere change the direction of light rays, causing them to scatter.

Scattering affects the color of light coming from the sky, but the details are determined by the wavelength of the light and the size of the particle. The short-wavelength blue and violet are scattered by molecules in the air much more than other colors of the spectrum. This is why blue and violet light reaches our eyes from all directions on a clear day.

But because we can’t see violet very well, the sky appears blue. Scattering also explains the colors of the sunrise and sunset, Ackerman says. “Because the sun is low on the horizon, sunlight passes through more air at sunset and sunrise than during the day, when the sun is higher in the sky.

More atmosphere means more molecules to scatter the violet and blue light away from your eyes. If the path is long enough, all of the blue and violet light scatters out of your line of sight. The other colors continue on their way to your eyes. This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red.” And because red has the longest wavelength of any visible light, the sun is red when it’s on the horizon, where its extremely long path through the atmosphere blocks all other colors.

: Curiosities: What determines the colors of the sky at sunrise and sunset?

What is a yellow cloud in the sky?

If the sky is blue, why are clouds white? – Unlike Rayleigh scattering, where the light waves are larger than the gas molecules in the atmosphere, the individual water droplets that make up a cloud are of similar size to the wavelength of sunlight. When the droplets and light waves are of similar size, a different type of scattering, called Mie scattering, occurs.

Mie scattering does not differentiate individual wavelength colors and, therefore, scatters all wavelengths of color the same.
We perceive this equally-scattered light as white.
However, clouds do not always appear white.
Haze and dust in the atmosphere can cause them to appear yellow, orange, or red.
As clouds thicken, sunlight passing through them will diminish or be blocked, giving the cloud a gray color.

If there is no direct sunlight striking the cloud, it may even reflect the color of the sky and appear bluish.

What color is the sky when a tornado is coming?

While a green sky is often an indicator of a severe storm that can produce tornadoes and damaging hail, a green sky does not guarantee severe weather, just as tornadoes can appear from a sky without a hint of green. So, the reason for green skies before a storm isn’t entirely known.

What happens if the sky is red?

Why does a red sky appear at sunrise and sunset? – The saying is most reliable when weather systems predominantly come from the west as they do in the UK. “Red sky at night, shepherds delight” can often be proven true, since red sky at night means fair weather is generally headed towards you.

A red sky appears when dust and small particles are trapped in the atmosphere by high pressure. This scatters blue light leaving only red light to give the sky its notable appearance. A red sky at sunset means high pressure is moving in from the west, so therefore the next day will usually be dry and pleasant.

“Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning” means a red sky appears due to the high-pressure weather system having already moved east meaning the good weather has passed, most likely making way for a wet and windy low-pressure system.

What does a pink sky mean?

A pink, or technically red, sky at night meant good weather for the next day. This is because as the sun is setting, its light is traveling through the lower parts of the atmosphere. The red color comes from particulates in the air, such as dust and moisture.

Why is the sky pink?

Reading Time: 2 minutes People drive hundreds and thousands of miles just to witness beautiful skies, sunrises, and sunsets. There is a different level of amazement when the sky is pinkish or what I would like to call the Cotton Candy sky! Although we’re amazed by it, we don’t think much about the science behind it! In this blog, we’re gonna tell you the scientific secret behind those pink skies.

The sky can turn pink for a variety of reasons.
One common cause is the presence of dust or other particles in the air.
When the sun is low on the horizon, its light has to pass through a greater thickness of the Earth’s atmosphere to reach the observer.
This causes the shorter, red wavelengths of light to scatter more and be more visible, while the longer, blue wavelengths are scattered less and are less visible.

This can give the sky a pink or reddish colour. Another cause of pink skies is the presence of pollutants in the air. Pollutants such as smoke and haze can also scatter the shorter, red wavelengths of light, giving the sky a pink or reddish color. Finally, certain types of clouds can also cause the sky to turn pink.

Why is the sky purple?

Other Factors That Cause a Purple Sky – Dneutral Han / Getty Images But other factors can come into play that can jumble up the light waves and the particles even more. According to Sarah Keith-Lucas from BBC Weather, “dust, pollution, water droplets, and cloud formations” can influence the colors of the sky, too.

Occasionally, pink and purple will appear more often than red and orange.
This is partially due to “the optical illusion of the pink wavelengths lighting up the base of the cloud (due to the low angle of the sun’s rays), and these pink clouds superimposed on a dark blue sky.
The combination of pink and dark blue can make the sky appear a deep purple.” In the case of Hurricane Michael and other hurricanes, water droplets, a setting sun, and low cloud cover played a part in creating a purple sky after the storms have passed.

Getting those purple hues is about having just the right conditions happen at the right time.

What happens if the sky is orange?

During the sunset or sunrise, the light from the sun transverses a greater length and thus all the blue light gets scattered before it reaches us. Thus only low-frequency wavelengths (red or orange) are left to reach us and the sky appears to be orange at that time.

Why is the sky orange?

As Canadian wildfires poured smoke plumes over the United States this week, East Coasters found themselves captivated and concerned by the unnatural orange hue that took over the skies. “Everything was completely orange. I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Kimberly Saltz of New York City said.

She said she remembers her first thought when she looked out her window Wednesday: “This looks like Mars!” Looking across the East River, Saltz couldn’t make out the contours of Brooklyn, and what she could see was bathed in an orange glow. The sky gets its color from the type and amount of tiny particles in the air, as well as the specific wavelengths of light they obstruct, experts said.

This phenomenon, known as the Rayleigh scattering, is responsible for the orange sky, according to climate scientist Peter Kalmus. On a day when the air in New York City or Philadelphia is not filled with wildfire particulate matter, blue light with its shorter wavelength is scattered more than red light, making the sky appear blue.

But when the scattered smoke particles strongly reduce the blue and violet light, they leave behind only the red and orange to pass through, Kalmus said. “Rayleigh scattering strength depends on the wavelength of the light, the size of the scattering particle and the density of the scattering particles,” he said.

“Light with shorter wavelengths (blue) gets scattered and attenuated more strongly than light with longer wavelengths (red).” The size, density and diversity of the wildfire particles in the air across various cities in Canada and the United States determine how the light is scattered.

Anytime you have an addition of particles to the air from volcano soot or wildfires, it changes the way light bounces around the atmosphere,” said Jennifer Marlon, a research scientist at the Yale School of the Environment.
The particles are the residue of the wood, leaves and pine needles that burned in Canada.” Some of the particles are large, but most are microscopic and some may be purely chemical, Marlon said, adding that it’s all extremely “toxic.” The dangerous nature of the plume is affecting millions of Americans, as local governments urge residents to avoid or minimize spending time outside.

Some have felt inspired by the orange to create and share “dystopian morning routines” on social media. Others said the changing color of the sky filled them with a sense of dread and foreboding. “As I was getting into my car yesterday, I saw a particle of ash all the way from Canada fall on me.

And I could see smokiness in the sky,” Marlon said.
For me, that brings a feeling of sadness, frustration and foreboding.” Those in the thick of the smoke are probably experiencing feelings of sadness, experts said.
And for those who are away from the smoke but glued to their phones, doomscrolling images of orange skies may be feeling anticipatory anxiety.

“The visual image of the orange sky, and the limited visibility it brings, makes climate change and wildfires in this case very real,” said Sarah Lowe, a clinical psychologist at the Yale School of Public Health. “All of this can bring about a fear for the future but also feelings of sadness or grief for our present.” Suzanne Reisman, a writer based in New York City, said that by midafternoon on Wednesday, the light inside her apartment was getting “weird.” “Outside the sky was orange, and the way that light filtered in kind of made my dining area glow,” she said.

It felt creepy and scary and like the apocalypse is here.” Reisman said the visually orange sky brought about the end-of-the-world feeling because it was irrefutable proof that something was wrong.
It didn’t feel right for a normally blue sky to look orange,” she said.
Correction A previous version of this article misspelled the last name of Sarah Lowe, a clinical psychologist at the Yale School of Public Health.

The article has been corrected.

Does yellow sky mean tornado?

Apparently not. It can vary. The belief is held due to the fact that a green cast to the sky indicates heavy hail/rain and the yellow is often due to dust in the air. So, no, not necessarily a sign of a tornado but certainly can be!

Why is the sky blue?

It’s easy to see that the sky is blue. Have you ever wondered why? – A lot of other smart people have, too. And it took a long time to figure it out! The light from the Sun looks white. But it is really made up of all the colors of the rainbow. When white light shines through a prism, the light is separated into all its colors. A prism is a specially shaped crystal. If you visited The Land of the Magic Windows, you learned that the light you see is just one tiny bit of all the kinds of light energy beaming around the universe-and around you! Like energy passing through the ocean, light energy travels in waves, too. All light travels in a straight line unless something gets in the way and does one of these things:—

reflect it (like a mirror) bend it (like a prism) or scatter it (like molecules of the gases in the atmosphere)

Sunlight reaches Earth’s atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth’s atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time. Closer to the horizon, the sky fades to a lighter blue or white. The sunlight reaching us from low in the sky has passed through even more air than the sunlight reaching us from overhead. As the sunlight has passed through all this air, the air molecules have scattered and re scattered the blue light many times in many directions, Also, the surface of Earth has reflected and scattered the light. All this scattering mixes the colors together again so we see more white and less blue.

Why did I see a rainbow cloud?

What is a rainbow cloud? – A rainbow cloud can occur because of something called cloud iridescence. It usually happens in altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular and cirrus clouds. Iridescent clouds happen because of diffraction – a phenomenon that occurs when small water droplets or small ice crystals scatter the sun’s light. You’ve probably seen a rainbow before. When sunlight passes through raindrops in the sky, the light is split into the colors the rainbow. If you have the right angle, you can see the full band of rainbow stretch across the sky. Sometimes you can even see the mirror image of the band, or the full double rainbow. Credit: Giorgio (CC BY 2.0) But have you ever seen a rainbow cloud? This can happen because of something called cloud iridescence. It usually happens in altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular and cirrus clouds. Iridescent clouds happen because of diffraction – a phenomenon that occurs when small water droplets or small ice crystals scatter the sun’s light. Credit: Courtesy of CarolSue Why doesn’t this happen more often? Cloud iridescence is relatively rare. The cloud must be thin and have lots of water droplets or ice crystals of about the same size. When that happens, the sun’s rays encounter just a few droplets at at time. For this reason, semi-transparent clouds or clouds that are just forming are the ones most likely to have iridescence.

Why is the sky yellow after a storm?

What happens if the sky is green?

Have you ever found yourself close to a storm, and the skies appear to turn a sudden shade of green? Well, NOAA meteorologists believe they might know the answer behind this stunning light display. According to the agency, a common belief is that ice in storms helps to scatter light, making the cumulonimbus clouds appear as if they are a different color.

next The sky turns green as thunderstorms move through Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Tuesday. (Photo: South Dakota Department of Transportation) ( ) prev next Green sky over Sioux Falls, South Dakota on July 6, 2022. (@TwstdSkyStudios/ Twitter) prev next Skies turn green as storms move through Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Tuesday. (Photo: @aafaque33/Twitter) ( ) prev A dark ominous sky over the Dallas Love Field Airport on Dec.13, 2022 during an active severe weather threat. (Image: DAL/Twitter) ( )

7 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HAIL The events are mostly known to occur during the evening and early mornings when the sun is at a low angle on the horizon. According to National Weather Service meteorologists, water and ice particles inside the clouds work to scatter the blue light. Why does the sky around some thunderstorms appear green? (FOX Weather) WHAT IS A DERECHO? Common producers of these events include severe thunderstorms and derechos, A derecho is a cluster of storms that produces destructive wind gusts and hail for hundreds of miles and has the potential to impact millions of people.

A July 2022 derecho event that moved through the Northern Plains produced hail, damaging winds and an eerie shade of green in the sky. Department of Transportation cameras in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, captured the stunning imagery that almost made the landscape look like it was dyed. In addition to the heavy rainfall, golf-ball to tennis-ball-size hail was reported during the severe weather event.

There is no known correlation between a blue-green sky and tornado production. Green skies do not guarantee a tornado will form from the clouds, but the color does likely indicate the storm is capable of a common sight during supercells – large hail. The anatomy of a supercell. Of all the storm types, supercell thunderstorms, or supercells, are most likely to produce severe weather, such as powerful wind, large hail and weak-to-violent tornadoes. (FOX Forecast Center / FOX Weather)

Why is the sky red today 2023?

More smoke conditions – Bottom line: Wildfire smoke is already drifting across North America in 2023, creating redder-than-usual sunsets. Here’s why wildfires cause red suns and moons.

Why is it light outside at 2am?

The ‘bright nights’ phenomenon – where the nighttime sky is inexplicably bright enough to read a book by, even without moonlight – has been puzzling scientists for centuries, but we might just have a solution to the mystery. A new study suggests the effect is created as slow-moving, high-altitude atmospheric waves merge together and amplify the light from naturally occurring airglow, gas atoms that aren’t usually visible.

Two researchers from York University in Canada matched data collected on spikes in airglow light with records of atmospheric waves, and found there was a link.
Don’t panic if you’ve got no idea what we’re talking about though – bright nights have always been rare occurrences, and are hardly ever seen today due to the effects of light pollution on the night sky.

One of the earliest mentions of the phenomenon was by Pliny the Elder in the first century, and other occurrences have been noticed in scientific papers and newspaper reports down the years. “The historical record is so coherent, going back over centuries, the descriptions are very similar,” says lead researcher Gordon Shepherd,

“Bright nights do exist, and they’re part of the variability of airglow that can be observed with satellite instruments.” That airglow is formed by various chemical reactions taking place in the upper atmosphere, including the green tinge in the air that happens when oxygen molecules split apart by the Sun join together again.

Shepherd and his colleague Youngmin Cho found that when this airglow mixed with weather-driven atmospheric waves, bright nights could last for several nights in a row, creating light up to 10 times brighter than normal. “This is a very clear, new approach to the old enigma of what makes some night skies so remarkably bright, and the answer is atmospheric dynamics,” says Jürgen Scheer, from the Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio in Argentina, who wasn’t involved in the research.

“We now have a good idea which dynamical phenomena are behind events of extreme brightness.” Based on the data collected by the researchers, bright nights only occur once a year in the places where they are noticeable, and you’d need a clear, moonless night to be able to tell the difference with your own eyes.

In total, the scientists think that for every 7 nights out of 100 there’s a bright night somewhere on Earth. One group of people who will be interested in the new research are astronomers: any airglow or bright night effect can interfere with their observations and readings taken of distant objects in space.

Does red sky mean snow?

Ask StormTeam 16: Why does the sky have a pink hue when it snows? For this week’s Ask StormTeam 16 segment, Meteorologist David Harker answers a question about the color of the sky when it snows. Jennifer Brandenburg asks: Why does the sky have a pink hue when it is snowing or about to snow? It has to do with light reflection.

On a spectrum scale measuring wavelengths, the red light has a longer wavelength, which does not allow it to scatter as easily as colors such as blues and greens. This is why sunsets are typically orange and red. With regards to the sky when snow looks to move in, light bouncing off clouds and atmospheric particles is scattered, leaving longer wavelengths as the color we see.

When snow is falling, that same light reflects off all the different snowflakes, giving a pink hue to the sky. You may also see different tints and hues in the sky in the city due to artificial lighting. Low clouds drop snowflakes, and once you get a good rate of speed of snow falling, you get a reflection of light off of the snowflakes.

The color of the sky will vary depending on the color of the lighting. In some cases, you will see pinks, reds, yellows, and whites. Also, have you heard the saying “red sky at night, sailor’s delight”? This also comes from the same idea of light reflection. This means that if you see a red glow to the sky at night, a storm is either moving through or has already done so.

The light from the sun, setting in the west, will reflect off the backside of the clouds, meaning drier and better weather is coming the following day. Our Ask StormTeam 16 segment airs every Wednesday evening and again on Thursday mornings. If you have a weather-related question you would like to have answered, email the question to [email protected] : Ask StormTeam 16: Why does the sky have a pink hue when it snows?

Why is the sky blue and not yellow?

Is the sky blue on other planets, too? – It all depends on what’s in the atmosphere! For example, Mars has a very thin atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide and filled with fine dust particles. These fine particles scatter light differently than the gases and particles in Earth’s atmosphere. The top image shows the orange-colored Martian sky during the daytime and the bottom image shows the blue-tinted sky at sunset. Both images were captured by NASA’s Mars Pathfinder Lander. Credit: NASA/JPL

Why does the sky turn really orange?

Why wildfire smoke turns the sky orange, according to science As Canadian wildfires poured smoke plumes over the United States this week, East Coasters found themselves captivated and concerned by the unnatural orange hue that took over the skies. “Everything was completely orange.

I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Kimberly Saltz of New York City said. She said she remembers her first thought when she looked out her window Wednesday: “This looks like Mars!” Looking across the East River, Saltz couldn’t make out the contours of Brooklyn, and what she could see was bathed in an orange glow.

The sky gets its color from the type and amount of tiny particles in the air, as well as the specific wavelengths of light they obstruct, experts said. This phenomenon, known as the Rayleigh scattering, is responsible for the orange sky, according to climate scientist Peter Kalmus.

On a day when the air in New York City or Philadelphia is not filled with wildfire particulate matter, blue light with its shorter wavelength is scattered more than red light, making the sky appear blue. But when the scattered smoke particles strongly reduce the blue and violet light, they leave behind only the red and orange to pass through, Kalmus said.

“Rayleigh scattering strength depends on the wavelength of the light, the size of the scattering particle and the density of the scattering particles,” he said. “Light with shorter wavelengths (blue) gets scattered and attenuated more strongly than light with longer wavelengths (red).” The size, density and diversity of the wildfire particles in the air across various cities in Canada and the United States determine how the light is scattered.

“Anytime you have an addition of particles to the air from volcano soot or wildfires, it changes the way light bounces around the atmosphere,” said Jennifer Marlon, a research scientist at the Yale School of the Environment. “The particles are the residue of the wood, leaves and pine needles that burned in Canada.” Some of the particles are large, but most are microscopic and some may be purely chemical, Marlon said, adding that it’s all extremely “toxic.” The dangerous nature of the plume is affecting millions of Americans, as local governments urge residents to avoid or minimize spending time outside.

And I could see smokiness in the sky,” Marlon said.
For me, that brings a feeling of sadness, frustration and foreboding.” Those in the thick of the smoke are probably experiencing feelings of sadness, experts said.
And for those who are away from the smoke but glued to their phones, doomscrolling images of orange skies may be feeling anticipatory anxiety.

It felt creepy and scary and like the apocalypse is here.” Reisman said the visually orange sky brought about the end-of-the-world feeling because it was irrefutable proof that something was wrong.
It didn’t feel right for a normally blue sky to look orange,” she said.
A previous version of this article misspelled the last name of Sarah Lowe, a clinical psychologist at the Yale School of Public Health.

The article has been corrected. : Why wildfire smoke turns the sky orange, according to science

Why is the sky turning orange?

Why is the sky orange? – Sunlight is made up of white light, which contains all of the colors of the rainbow. The interference of the smoke alters how we see it. “When there’s all these smoke particles in the air, they block some of the colors from reaching your eyes,” TODAY meteorologist Dylan Dreyer tells TODAY.com.

“They block the blues, the purples, the yellows, so what you’re left with is reds and the oranges.” Orange hues are usually seen at certain times of the day, which is why at some points the sky has a more gray-ish haze and other times it’s orange. “You tend to have the orange at sunrise and sunset,” Dylan said.

“The wind is so light in the morning, and you tend not to have as much smoke, but the smoke builds up during the day. At sunset, the light from the the sun has to travel through a lot more atmosphere, so since it’s traveling through many, many particles, it almost enhances the whole phenomenon.” She added that when the sun is low in the sky, “it’s almost doubling and tripling how many particles that ray of light is running through.”

Why is the sky blue and yellow?

The sky isn’t actually blue and the sun isn’t actually yellow — they just appear that way. This short video from MinutePhysics above nicely explains why. The sky, after all, is just transparent air, “a stage upon which all colors dance.” But as light from the sun enters into Earth’s atmosphere, the different colored wavelengths making up that light start bumping up against the air and “dancing” differently.

The shorter blue and violet wavelengths get scattered most by the air, making the sky around us appear blue.
The remaining red, yellow, and green wavelengths mostly pass through and hit our eye at once — making the sun, in turn, appear yellowish,
During a sunset, meanwhile, all that sunlight has to pass through even more air to reach our eye, so even more blue and violet wavelengths get scattered.

The remaining wavelengths that hit our eye appear as an even deeper red or orange. (Dust, pollution, and water vapor can also scatter some of those reds and yellows, making the whole sky glow.) (You can find more MinutePhysics videos at their Youtube channel,)

Jordan McKenzie