“What caused this blue band at sunset this past Friday, August 22?”
asks Jeff Chochola, who sent us this photo.
Jeff, it’s likely the tops of towering cumulonimbus clouds (distant thunderstorms) are
behind what you see here. The dark bands here likely resulted when sunlight was
blocked by the tops of these clouds. With the disc of the sun below the horizon, the
only sunlight arriving was above ground level. Shadows were being on the high cloud
deck visible here by the distant cumulonimbi. Neat effect, isn’t it?? THANKS Jeff for
taking the time to share this with us!
-Tom Skilling
Photo courtesy of Jeff Chochola
