Residents in Florida witnessed the sky turning purple in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian on Wednesday evening.
Thick cloud and high moisture content in the air, coinciding with Wednesday’s sunset, caused the sky over Florida to turn bright purple as the hurricane passed the state.
Emory Cook photographed the sky from St Johns County, Florida, saying: “The sky was literally purple tonight, very cool post-hurricane effect.”
A spokesman for the Met Office told PA: “Essentially it’s to do with the scattering of light.
“The reason the sky looks blue (is that) all wavelengths of light are coming through from the sky – many of the other colours which have longer wavelengths are scattered out, but blue and violet remain.
“The very thick clouds around the hurricane and the high moisture content in that has further scattered the light, which then only allows the violet light to come through, which is making the sky look purple.”
The Met Office also explained that the sunset and cloud positioning may have been factors in the sky’s purple appearance over Florida.
Purple skies after #Dorian passed by Jacksonville today. Do you think there’s a chance Dorian was a fan of Prince? pic.twitter.com/mpeM3bsVXo
— Amy Pope-Latham, LCSW (@coastalBtherapy) September 5, 2019
After causing destruction in the Bahamas as a Category Five storm, Hurricane Dorian had limited impact on Florida, causing minor flooding and power cuts in some parts of the state.
In the Bahamas, the death toll from the hurricane has risen to 20, with more fatalities expected.
Seventeen victims are from the Abaco islands and three from Grand Bahama, health minister Duane Sands told the Associated Press.
