What Caused the Central Maine Sky to Look Yellow on Sunday Evening?

After having a week of summer-like weather, last weekend took a turn for the nasty.  We had sporadic rain showers on Saturday, and Sunday was a complete wash.

In fact, much of Maine got slammed with severe thunderstorms on Sunday evening.

Lightning lit up the sky for over an hour, and thunder shook our houses.

Just before the worst of the storms rolled into Central Maine, you may have noticed something strange about the sky.  Just as twilight set in, the sky took on a yellow glow.  It was so bright that it looked like it was noon.

A quick scroll through social media showed me that this phenomenon was not just happening in Augusta.  My Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram feeds were filled with pictures and videos of yellow skies from across Central Maine.

What was causing the sky to turn yellow?  Some people were concerned that it was the start of something really serious, like the formation of a tornado.

After doing some research, I am pretty sure we’ve come up with the answer.

According to Wiki How, it is possible that the sky can look yellow just before the formation of a tornado, but that is not what happened this time.

The article explains that the clouds can sometimes scatter certain light wavelengths (colors), allowing only the yellowish colors through.

A brewing storm (especially a late afternoon storm) is the most common reason for that eerie yellow cast that sometimes happens outside. The clouds scatter the short wavelengths of blue light that come from the sun, and when that scattered light is projected into the sky, it can look yellowish from our perspective here on earth.

Do you have any pictures of Sunday’s sky?  We’d love to see them.  You can share them on our Facebook page or through our app.