Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Residents in Spain were mesmerized yesterday evening by a magnificent red sun that dominated the skyline.
The stunning phenomenon, visible from different points in Andalucia transformed the usual golden sundown into a vibrant crimson spectacle which lit up the social media feeds all over the region.
MeteoCadiz, a weather service in the city of Cadiz, said that the colouration was caused by a combination between the sunset and the calima conditions. However other meteorologists pointed out other causes further away.
Calima is a term used to describe the hazy atmosphere caused by dust particles and sand particles that are carried across southern Spain by wind.
The phenomenon did not only occur in Spain. Chicago meteorologists explained the phenomenon by blaming smoke from Canadian wildfires.
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The US National Weather Service explained that particles in the atmosphere scatter shorter wavelengths of light – including blue, purple, green and yellow – while allowing longer red and orange wavelengths to pass through.
The filtering effect is most noticeable during sunrise and at sunset when the sun passes through more atmosphere material.
Calima episodes are caused by dust lifted from North Africa and carried into the air by prevailing winds.
This condition is most common in the spring and summer and lasts between 3 and 5 days.
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The social media buzz generated by Monday’s event was widespread across the region.
These atmospheric phenomena show how weather systems can move particles thousands of kilometers away, affecting light and visibility conditions far from the origin point.
It has been observed in many places around the globe that dust, smoke, or other particles can combine with low angle sunlight at sunset or sunrise.
