Red Sky Warning??

Red Sky in the Morning

Yesterday, we had quite the winter storm hit Chester County.  The day started off fairly quiet, but I (and many other people) noticed the red hue to sunrise. The saying, Red Sky in the Morning, Sailors take Warning--would be put to a test. 

Sure enough, a few hours after sunrise, the flakes started to fall.  I thought we could all do with a little research about the adage.  It  may be an old wives tale, but there is some science to back it up.    Reddish hues to the sky are indications that the atmosphere is loaded with dust and water particles.  Red wavelengths are the longest in the color spectrum making them easily visible to the human eye.  The red sky at night (Sailors delight) is due to the sunset through the high concentration of dust particles--indicating a high pressure system and stable air.  The red sky in the morning means that there is a high moisture content and indicates that a storm could be moving to the east.  There are a lot of "coulds" and "mays" but it is fun to learn a little more about the old sayings!

Snow Cover by Afternoon

As a fun aside: Some of my friends also noted the red sky and remarked shepherds take warning", so after a little research I found out that this comes from Shakespeare's play,
"Venus and Adonis: “Like a red morn that ever yet betokened, Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field, Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.” 

You never know what you can learn when you attend a TLC Program! Hope to see you out on the land: http://tlcforscc.org/education/education-programs/