Comments on: Skies Over Ann Arbor

By: Steve Radant

Steve Radant — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:08:51 +0000

Nothing so highbrow on my mind… HD’s fantastic photo reminded me of the skyscape from a Monty Python animation.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 04:01:09 +0000

I had the same thought–toward the end especially, it was very Maxwell Parrish, with the layers of rose and gold and blue.

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 23:18:49 +0000

I think the ghosts of JMW Turner & Maxfield Parrish got together to prank us.

By: Dan Ezekiel

Dan Ezekiel — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:01:18 +0000

I don’t have a “scientific” answer, but as a long-time lover and appreciator of sunsets, and I’ve noticed that the most colorful and dramatic ones occur when the setting sun gets under a broad layer of clouds and thus gets a chance to project its colors on the underside of them. Perhaps because the clouds were so rugged and bumpy, there was an extra dimension to the “canvas”. Thunderstorms and sunsets are both inherently colorful, and we seem rarely to see them both at once…..

By: Mary Morgan

Mary Morgan — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 04:31:16 +0000

Dan, thanks for the terminology. Here’s my next question for your science expertise: What caused the crazy colors we saw tonight? Yellow, orange, ruby – more vivid than I can ever recall.

By: Dan Ezekiel

Dan Ezekiel — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 03:26:17 +0000

These are called mammatus (“breast”) clouds. From Wikipedia: “When occurring in cumulonimbus, mammatus are often indicative of a particularly strong storm or maybe even a tornadic storm.”