Area 215
This picture, as submitted to Channel 6, raised the curiosity of several in the Delaware Valley as well as a couple of emailers to Phillyweather.net overnight.What are the cool little vertical lights that are streaking down from a cloudy sky, surrounded by an orange hue?
Not the Aurora Borealis, as that would require a mostly clear sky. Skies were mostly cloudy last night.
Not UFO's, although that would make for a cool conspiracy.
The answer is virga!
It was snowing last night in the sky, although the snow was not reaching the ground. As that snow was falling and evaporating in the atmosphere, light from the city and the suburbs was reflecting off of the snow crystals, causing streaks of light to appear. Since the snow was falling at a light rate, the streaks could stand out more easily. The orange hue in the sky is due to the combination of light reflection off of the clouds and evaporating snow.
More of those cool photos over at 6abc.com...enjoy!
Tags:
