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Green Sky and Severe Weather

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Brown

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Sep 17, 1998, 3:00:00 AM9/17/98
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There was a severe weather outbreak here in NY on May 31 of this year. My
question to the professionals of this newsgroup is why did the sky appear
green? Is there a link to the severity of a storm and the greenish cast in
the sky? I've lived in upstate NY all my life (I'm 30) and I've never seen
the sky look like it did that day before. My husband and I took the NWS
Spotter training in the spring and I don't recall anything said about it
during the training. I did hear reference on the news to the sky being
described as "green" Any info would be greatly appreciated. It was an
awesome sight...and scary.

John Bissell

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Sep 17, 1998, 3:00:00 AM9/17/98
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Most likely the Green sky was due to hail reflecting sunlight. Its
usually large hail too.

On Thu, 17 Sep 1998 14:24:38 -0400, "Brown" <Brown...@mci2000.com>
wrote:

Rodney Blackall

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Sep 18, 1998, 3:00:00 AM9/18/98
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In article <qtcM1.52$Mi5....@news.mci2000.com>,
Brown <Brown...@mci2000.com> wrote:
<SNIP>

> Is there a link to the severity of a storm and the greenish cast in
> the sky?
<SNIP>
The green cast has long been known as a warning of imminent solid
precipitation; it is therefore also an advance warning of probable
lightning. (Critical when mountaineering)

I do not think it can be used as a guide to severity at any one place
because the severest convection can be extremely local and will probably
happen somewhere else nearby.

The intensity of the green hue will depend critically on the elevation and
azimuth of the sun with respect to the cloud towers.

--
Rodney Blackall (retired meteorologist)
London, ENGLAND

Doug V.

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Sep 19, 1998, 3:00:00 AM9/19/98
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Brown wrote:

> There was a severe weather outbreak here in NY on May 31 of this year. My
> question to the professionals of this newsgroup is why did the sky appear
> green? Is there a link to the severity of a storm and the greenish cast in
> the sky? I've lived in upstate NY all my life (I'm 30) and I've never seen
> the sky look like it did that day before. My husband and I took the NWS
> Spotter training in the spring and I don't recall anything said about it
> during the training. I did hear reference on the news to the sky being
> described as "green" Any info would be greatly appreciated. It was an
> awesome sight...and scary.

That was the reminants of the straight line winds that went across MI in about
an hour and a half with some areas of wind speeds of up to 130 MPH.

I've seen the 'green' sky several times and it was usually followed by some
very bad storms. You know your in trouble when you see the 'green' sky and
also what appears as cobblestones upside down, followed shortly thereafter by
a wall cloud.

--
Doug V.
E-mail: dutchman.AT.centuryinter.net
Snail Mail 49346-9653
ICBM : N 43 34' 57.4" W 85 18' 10.4" (BTDT)

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