Colored moons

Most people will agree that the moon is a silvery white colour but depending on the state of the atmosphere it is possible for the moon to change colour. Colours that have been seen are red, orange and blue. A lot of smoke and or dust can cause the moons colour to appear changed.

Another time it can happen is when there is a huge forest fire somewhere which causes a lot of haze.This colour change is where the expression "once in a blue moon" comes from because it is unlikely that the moon could turn blue but it has been known to happen on occasion. During a total lunar eclipse the moon can appear to be a reddish colour this is because of the spread out of light by the earths atmosphere, scattered red lights find their way to the lunar surface and make the moon look red.

Images showing red and blue Moons. Sources Australian geographic.com,NASA science news and Listverse.com

Pyrocumulus Clouds

A pyrocumulus cloud is a dense cloud that often forms in association with volcanic activity, forest fires and nuclear explosions. A pyrocumulus cloud needs some kind of heat to form. The air is dramatically heated by convection which is heating by mass movement of particles. Moisture is also common in the formation. The heat causes the mass to rise and the cloud is formed.  These clouds are common when a nuclear weapon is used, it is known as a mushroom cloud.

These clouds have been known about for thousands of years and during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius  in 79 AD Pliny the   Younger described a cloud over the volcano as "Like an Umbrella Pine."This cloud is still common over volcanic eruptions today.


                             
Pyrocumulus clouds viewed from side and above.


Sources Wikipedia.com and  Listverse.com

Fire Rainbows

Circumhorizontal arc are usually known as Fire Rainbows but they are not fires or rainbows.They are incredibly rare and only seen when the sun is very high in the sky this allows light to pass through cirrus clouds that have a lot of ice crystals in them.

This is a photograph of a fire rainbow from Listverse.com

Moon Bows

Moon Bows                                                                                                                                                
A rainbow is formed when the sun shines on droplets of water. Usually when it has been raining. A moon bow is much less common, it is only seen at night time when the moon is low and almost full. One place that this has been seen is Cumberland falls in Kentukey,another is Victoria Falls in Africa as seen in the picture below.

Photo from Afrizim.com Information from Listverse.com

Introduction

Hi im Rachel and this is my blog on Weird Weather. Hope you enjoy reading!