Orange Sun
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- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:30 pm
Orange Sun
With the winds increasing here ahead of ex tropical storm Ophelia, here on the Wirral I've been watching a really eerie looking sight! It's a grey, murky sky overhead but with an orange looking sun appearing dimly but clearly through what seems a thick haze. There is some patchy water droplet cloud passing over the disc every now and then. The sun's outline is sharp so there is no ice cloud present. Lifted fog would otherwise be producing a white disc this late in the morning. I'm wondering if a cloud of dust or Saharan sand is responsible? The isobars on the synoptic charts I was looking at on Friday, when Ophelia was off the W African coast, suggested an air flow straight up to the UK. I've never seen anything like this before - so close to midday!
Chris Richards
West Kirby
Chris Richards
West Kirby
- Michael Brown
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 7:52 pm
Re: Orange Sun
We have had the same experience here in Lancashire. The whole morning there has been a very odd and gloomy light until later in the morning when the sun began to peep through and was showing a distinct red hue apparently ( I am colour blind). A photograph from my daughter, Laoise, will help. Also a lot of dust on my car and other flat surfaces.
Miek Brown
Miek Brown
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- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:30 pm
Re: Orange Sun
Yes, I think my car windscreen had dust patches on it too. There were a few light showers here around 8am, only partially dampening the ground.
When I went down to the town centre later in the morning the sky over the Dee estuary to the west looked brighter. Half an hour later "normal" blue sky with a little ragged Cu had spread overhead. The temperature then rose quite quickly to around 20 deg C.
Chris Richards
When I went down to the town centre later in the morning the sky over the Dee estuary to the west looked brighter. Half an hour later "normal" blue sky with a little ragged Cu had spread overhead. The temperature then rose quite quickly to around 20 deg C.
Chris Richards
- John Wilson
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:40 pm
- Location: Mapperley Plains, Arnold, Notts.
Re: Orange Sun
Same effect here. Most eery. According to a weather bulletin (BBC) the colour was due to a mix of Saharan sand and smoke from wildfires in Portugal. Sky cleared by mid-afternoon, but wind very strong by then.
Interesting blip on my barograph chart at about 05.15 BST this morning. Did a front pass? If not, can anyone explain?
regards to all
John
Interesting blip on my barograph chart at about 05.15 BST this morning. Did a front pass? If not, can anyone explain?
regards to all
John
- Nicholas Gardner
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:11 pm
- Location: Rural riverside valley location near the village of Newton Poppleford and 2 km from the sea.
- Contact:
Re: Orange Sun
16th October 2017John Wilson wrote:Interesting blip on my barograph chart at about 05.15 BST this morning. Did a front pass? If not, can anyone explain?
Time hPa
05:20 1011.0
05:25 1010.6
05:30 1010.4
05:35 1009.6
05:40 1010.1
05:45 1010.8
05:50 1010.6
John, was your 'blip' a sudden increase in pressure? If not then did it resemble anything like my 'dip' at 05:35?
It did not seem to get light this morning and the light levels were something more akin to just after the sun had set, right up until the sun started to shine weakly through thinning cloud at around 10:30. In the gloom the light had a yellowish colour to it and was so dark that it felt more like a dark twilight (they call it dimpsy around 'ere). Then there was an abrupt clearance to blue skies and glorious sunshine all day after that. It felt apocalyptic....
16th October 2017
Time W/m²
07:45 2
07:50 9
07:55 11
08:00 14
08:05 16
08:10 16
08:15 16
08:20 18
08:25 18
08:30 19
08:35 17
08:40 14
08:45 17
08:50 21
08:55 21
09:00 20
09:05 17
09:10 14
09:15 16
09:20 17
09:25 18
09:30 17
09:35 17
09:40 18
09:45 19
09:50 19
09:55 20
10:00 24
10:05 25
10:10 25
10:15 39
10:20 48
10:25 63
10:30 51
By 11:15 the solar irradiance readings were over 400.
Otter Valley Weather
Near Newton Poppleford, Sidmouth - Devon
50:41N 3:17 W; 20 metres AMSL; Station Grade B-BAAA37
http://www.ottervalleyweather.me.uk
Near Newton Poppleford, Sidmouth - Devon
50:41N 3:17 W; 20 metres AMSL; Station Grade B-BAAA37
http://www.ottervalleyweather.me.uk
- Martin Rowley
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:32 pm
- Location: West Moors, East Dorset
Re: Orange Sun
... Similar experience to others here (West Moors/East Dorset): whilst out shopping around 0930-1030Z, sky becoming increasingly dark/threatening (Beaufort = "u" perhaps?) and by the time we got home 1045Z, my wife was getting seriously worried that 'something' awful was going to happen. No rain of course - but the deepest gloom lasted until ~1300Z, then started to lift slightly. At the same time, as the cloud thinned out/fragmented, the solar disk was seen deep red in a white-hazy-turbid sky - and this lasted until around 1315Z/1320Z, then a rapid change to a 'normal' sun occurred with the blue sky (albeit still on the turbid side) returning from the west.
Several years ago I was researching some diaries in Ireland and came across several reports which seem to tie up with our experiences today - and I note that some sources have linked today's event to fires in Iberia - but can't comment further on that:
https://sites.google.com/site/westmoors ... e-may-1870
Martin.
Several years ago I was researching some diaries in Ireland and came across several reports which seem to tie up with our experiences today - and I note that some sources have linked today's event to fires in Iberia - but can't comment further on that:
https://sites.google.com/site/westmoors ... e-may-1870
Martin.
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset
Lat: 50deg 49.25'N, Long: 01deg 53.05'W
Height (amsl): 17 m (56 feet)
COL category: C1 overall/TRSHEUN=CC-A03-
West Moors, East Dorset
Lat: 50deg 49.25'N, Long: 01deg 53.05'W
Height (amsl): 17 m (56 feet)
COL category: C1 overall/TRSHEUN=CC-A03-
- John Wilson
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:40 pm
- Location: Mapperley Plains, Arnold, Notts.
Re: Orange Sun
Thank you for the quick response, Nicholas, and my apologies for not replying earlier. Yes, the blip on my barograph was a sudden dip of around 1mb a little after 05.00. Difficult to get a precise time from a standard small-pattern barograph. There was then a slight rebound followed by a slow fall in pressure.
regards to all
John
regards to all
John
- Martin Rowley
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:32 pm
- Location: West Moors, East Dorset
Re: Orange Sun
... the latest (October 2017) Bulletin has an excellent summary of the overall nature of this event - provided by Donald Perkins, and of course there are many individual reports contained elsewhere in that publication.
From another group, I offer the following animation .... which shows the principal atmospheric flow patterns as betrayed by dust, sea-salt and smoke, during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Of particular interest (the whole thing is fascinating) is the last section which neatly demonstrates the impact of Ophelia in bringing the mix of ex-Saharan dust and Iberian smoke - the latter appearing to dominate - across these islands.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171127.html
Martin.
From another group, I offer the following animation .... which shows the principal atmospheric flow patterns as betrayed by dust, sea-salt and smoke, during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Of particular interest (the whole thing is fascinating) is the last section which neatly demonstrates the impact of Ophelia in bringing the mix of ex-Saharan dust and Iberian smoke - the latter appearing to dominate - across these islands.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171127.html
Martin.
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset
Lat: 50deg 49.25'N, Long: 01deg 53.05'W
Height (amsl): 17 m (56 feet)
COL category: C1 overall/TRSHEUN=CC-A03-
West Moors, East Dorset
Lat: 50deg 49.25'N, Long: 01deg 53.05'W
Height (amsl): 17 m (56 feet)
COL category: C1 overall/TRSHEUN=CC-A03-
- Paul Swinhoe
- Site Admin
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- Location: Newcastle-under-Lyme
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Re: Orange Sun
Here is the sky at Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, on the same day at 11:10 UTC. This is without any filters or photoshopping!
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Paul Swinhoe
COL Webmaster
Paul Swinhoe
COL Webmaster