Starship Asterisk*

I happened to look outside just before dusk and everything looked red. First I noticed that the pavement on the street looked very red. It was kind of eerie looking. Then I noticed that everything had a red hue to it. Buildings; trees; and I noticed it looked like the sky overhead was red. I took a better look and it was an overcast sky and it was the clouds that were red. I went outside and there was some blue sky way out on the western horizon. I couldn't see the sun but I figure it must have been lighting the bottoms of the clouds. But why red? Was the sun maybe beyond the horizon and maybe behind some thin clouds? --- Curious I wish I took a picture.

I've had this happen a couple of times here, also both with an overcast sky but the ambient color was very yellow instead of red. It must have something to do with the clouds and the positioning of the sun.

Had the sun just set?
I've seen that effect many times. The very low, or just set, sun illuminates the underside of the clouds as red as the setting sun. This light then floods the region from all directions. I've also seen a total black sky (thick cloud layer not bottom-side lit) with sunlight beaming through a thin gap at the horizon lighting up hillsides a beautiful yellow-orange; also an amazing sight

With the recent volcanic action up that end of the hemisphere the clouds could have been red due to dust in the atmosphere. Just a thought.

Kind of reminded me of a Martian setting. I seen the sun; when it was setting; light up things from under the clouds before. Then everything would have a beautiful glow; but never red. I couldn't see where the sun was as there are a lot of trees between the horizon and where I live. I couldn't tell if the sun was just set or ready to set.

Any fires burning in the area will also tend to color the light red

BMAONE23 wrote:Any fires burning in the area will also tend to color the light red

Nothing in the area that I'm aware of. I'm believing it was a combination of dust and clouds and the inclement weather.

Nothing quite like it. It looks like the bottom of the clouds are on fire. At least in the North-East.

beyond wrote:Nothing quite like it. It looks like the bottom of the clouds are on fire. At least in the North-East.

So you saw similar sights. It made it look kind of creepy outside.

Well, no. when we get the "burning clouds" it does not give off a strange color to anything, at least not that i remember, with the burning clouds anyway.
The full effect usually lasts maybe 5 minutes. However, if you are near the west coast or a big body of water is to the west of you, that may give everything some color from the reflection off the water. Orange clouds are good also, but the burning ones are the best!

No water nearby! Nebraska's about as inland as you can get.

orin stepanek wrote:I happened to look outside just before dusk and everything looked red. First I noticed that the pavement on the street looked very red. It was kind of eerie looking. Then I noticed that everything had a red hue to it.

I love when this happens. The color I've seen more often is rose -- there's a deep rosy glow on all the world around. I think it's very beautiful. It definitely entices me to go outside to play, or at least stand outside to admire the color. It doesn't last long, usually just a few minutes, but it surely is pretty.

It is most likely just atmospheric reddening from the Sunset reflecting off the bottom of the clouds.

I could just imagine what the appearance of the reflected light from this would look like