Skies in parts of Australia’s west coast were bathed in an unsettling blood-red glow as Tropical Cyclone Narelle bore down on the continent, creating an effect some called “apocalyptic.”
“Incredibly eerie outside, and everything is covered in dust. Not a lot of wind yet,” Shark Bay Caravan Park wrote in a Facebook post capturing the phenomenon on Friday.
The skies in other parts of the region were cloaked in an unusual but far less terrifying orange radiance due to swirling dust clouds kicked up by the powerful storm.
The ruddy hue could be caused by how different wavelengths of light are scattered in the atmosphere, the FOX Forecast Center said.
Colors like blue have shorter wavelengths than red, orange and pink light, and when the sun rises or sets, the light it casts passes through thicker portions of the atmosphere.
This causes the blue wavelengths to scatter more readily, while the longer red and pink ones appear more prominent in the sky.
Some reports said strong winds kicked iron-rich soil into the atmosphere, which, combined with the diffused sunlight, created a sort of filter that muted most color wavelengths except red.
The park shared a follow-up video on Facebook Sunday showing the skies had returned to their usual azure.
“What a difference 48 hours makes. We are still clearing dust from everywhere,” they wrote.
