As the seasons change, so do the skies. Here’s one of the reasons why!
We’re continuing the transition to Fall in the northern hemisphere and you may have noticed a change in the skies lately. While vibrant, colorful sunsets are possible in the summer, they tend to happen more frequently has we make the change from Summer to Fall.
Why is that?
Well, there’s a few reasons. One of the most important is the observable change in the composition of our atmosphere.
We tend to associate summer with heat, humidity… a slow weather pattern that doesn’t see many big swings in temperatures and precipitation. It’s that thick, soupy atmosphere that’s actually acting to block incoming light from the sun, making things look more drab, with less color. We can still see colorful sunsets in the summer, but it typically takes a strong cold front with a lot of dry air to help thin out the atmosphere.
As the seasons change…
In the Fall, the arrival cooler, drier air masses tend to happen much more frequently. This is why, not only our sunsets become more colorful, afternoons tend to have a deeper blue color to them.
This same idea can be applied following strong cold fronts that bring bright clearing skies. The air masses that follow cold fronts tend to be much drier than the warm, humid ones that precede them.
It’s also the reason why the outside tends to be much brighter on very cold, sunny days in the winter. Those air masses tend to be the driest we see in mid-Missouri allowing for the least amount of colors to scatter as they approach from the sun.
Some of the sunsets mid-Missouri has seen so far in September…
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