Monday evening's setting sun, a hazy, humid environment and distant towering cumulus clouds combined to produce this amazing scene photographed and relayed to us by Larry Jahn of downstate Macomb, Ill. The rays visible here are referred to as crepuscular rays.
That there are gaps in these rays indicates light from Monday evening's setting sun was being blocked by distant cloud towers -- the kind which might well include tall cumulonimbus clouds (thunderheads). Our sincere thanks to Larry Jahn for sharing these spectacular shots with us!
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
