What was with the eerie, orange sky after severe storms blasted Twin Cities?

The Twin Cities had its hottest day of the summer and also most active 24 hour severe weather period. We saw not one but two bow echo storms producing wind damage within 11 hours from Monday evening and then again early Tuesday morning.

Many people saw and photographed an eerie, orange-red sky after the passing of the first bow echo Monday evening.

The colors were all to do with impeccable timing with the sunset. Most severe storms, including a classic bow echo, develop upward and outward as it hits the stable top of the troposphere (the layer of the atmosphere most of our weather occurs which extends up to about 40,000 to 50,000 feet above the ground). This produces a sheath of clouds extending 100 miles outward of the center of the action. We call this an ‘over-shooting top.’ It’s a classic sign of an intense storm.

The setting sun then hit the back of this cloud plume and we then see the reflection of that typical orange-red setting sun back to our eyes. This layer of clouds is fairly high up and comprised of thick water droplets and/or ice crystals, which reflect light well.

It’s a nice way to end an otherwise dangerous storm. People in central Wisconsin would have likely seen a similar setup with the early-morning bow echo as the rising sun reflected off the over-shooting top of the morning storm.