As Tropical Cyclone Narelle approached, the skies in Western Australia displayed an eerie blood-red hue, resembling a scene from doomsday. Images and photos of this phenomenon have since circulated worldwide.
According to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on March 30th, as Cyclone Narelle neared the west coast of Australia on March 27th, residents of Shark Bay witnessed the unusual sight of the sky turning red. Shark Bay is located about 500 kilometers south of the cyclone’s landfall point in Exmouth.
The sky started showcasing this unusual color around midday and lasted for several hours. Kerrie Shepherd, a resident of Shark Bay Caravan Park, expressed astonishment, saying she had never seen anything like it before.
She mentioned that in the afternoon, the sky progressively turned more orange. By around 3:30 pm, when they stepped outside, everything was bathed in red as far as the eye could see.
She described how a gust of wind swept through the town, and then, abruptly, it all ended, leaving a strange feeling in the air.
She said, “The sky was that color, then the strong winds from the cyclone started blowing, and it began to rain. Within half an hour, the rain stopped, and the sky cleared up again.”
As for why the approach of Narelle caused the sky to turn red, meteorologist Angus Hines from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology explained that two main factors contributed to this phenomenon.
The first reason is the soil characteristics. The northern region of Western Australia is known for its iron-rich red soils, formed through millions of years of oxidation. The strong winds accompanying Narelle swept up a significant amount of iron oxide dust into the upper atmosphere, causing the sky to appear red.
The second reason is cloud cover. Thick clouds can obscure sunlight, making the sky appear more uniform and gloomy. This gives the impression that the light is not originating from a single source but evenly distributed across the ground.
According to a report by The Guardian, a video shot at Shark Bay Caravan Park displaying the red skies has gone viral on social media.
(More information in the video can be viewed by clicking here)
Another meteorologist, Jessica Lingard, explained that the success of the video was due to the perfect combination of various factors – strong winds, dry ground, and the photographer being in the right place at the right time to capture it all.