South Dakota skies turn green amid severe thunderstorm
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Skies over Sioux Falls, South Dakota turned a bright green reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West Tuesday afternoon.
The severe weather was a derecho, a powerful storm system that can travel for hundreds of miles bringing heavy rain and powerful winds.
Green skies are not unheard of before a storm, but the exact reason why this happens is still unclear.
The sky above Sioux Falls, South Dakota turned a bright shade of emerald green on Tuesday right before severe weather barreled through the southeastern part of the state.
Sioux Falls was hit with more than three inches of rain over a few hours last night and strong wind gusts as part of a derecho, the Midwest’s answer to a hurricane.
Derechos are massive thunderstorm bands that can travel hundreds of miles in a relatively straight line and can be just as destructive as a tornado, according to the National Weather Service.
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Tuesday’s derecho traveled almost 1,150 miles impacting roughly half a dozen states including Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Montana, according to the Mitchell Daily Republic. Winds reached over 90 mph in places like Huron and Agar, SD.
Derechos are relatively rare but this is the second time South Dakota and its surrounding states have been hit with one this summer at one point leaving close to 30,000 people without power, according to USA Today.
Green skies are not an uncommon phenomenon during severe weather but the exact reason why it occurs is still unclear, according to AccuWeather.
But it may have to do with the time of day that thunderstorms occur.
Severe weather like thunderstorms tend to take place later in the day when the sun is closer to the horizon. As the sun’s position in the sky drops lower, the spectrum of light changes from blue to more red, AccuWeather explains.
When the light from under thunderclouds, which appears blue due to water droplets, mixes with red sunlight the resulting color is green.
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