Residents in Japan have been sharing a number of pictures of their beautiful but ominous sky as Typhoon Hagibis came close to hit the country.
Hours before Typhoon Hagibis hit Tokyo, residents saw the bright purple skies.
Here are some of the images that the residents shared:
While residents were preparing for the worst storm that hit the country in 60 years, the sky turned bright purple.
Experts suggest that when the sky turns purple, it precedes a major storm.
Colorful beautiful skyscapes are a result of a process called scattering, which is a natural phenomenon that says the devastation is coming.
Scattering occurs when heavy rains rid the atmosphere of larger particles and leave smaller particles that scatter the light in all directions, this changes the color of the skies.
Lauren Rautenkranz, a meteorologist, explained why this happens.
Lauren said, “As sunlight shines down to Earth, most of the colors of the spectrum are able to reach the surface uninterrupted.”
Lauren added, “But the shorter wavelengths, blue and violet, are scattered in every direction. This light bounces from particle to particle until it eventually reaches your eyes. But the sky doesn’t appear violet and blue because of our eyes’ limitations.”
Under normal conditions, our eyes can only detect blue sky, but when a storm is coming, Blue can turn into purple and it becomes visible to the naked eye.
Lauren explains, “The light was scattered around the moisture in the air, causing the magical purple color.”
Typhoon Hagibis has killed 30 people and 15 are still missing.
The storm led to the cancellation of the Rugby World Cup, which was supposed to be held in Japan.
Yasushi Kajihara, an official with the Japan Meteorological Agency, said, “Be ready for rainfall of the kind that you have never experienced. Damage from floods and landslides is likely taking place already. It is critical that people take action urgently to protect their lives and the lives of loved ones.”