Noctilucent Clouds

[Grip_Maker's_Wife]

Last night around 10 PM the sky looked incredible! It is a somewhat rare phenomenon called Noctilucent Clouds. It occurs when clouds in the mesosphere (~50 miles up) and are illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon and the lower atmosphere is in the Earth's shadow. Clouds only form in the mesosphere under certain conditions as it is normally too dry. For comparison, Cirrus clouds are only 4-8 miles up. June-July may have the right conditions in the northern hemisphere and they can only be seen from a certain latitude range (45-60 degrees).

I cannot express enough how strange and beautiful the sky looked! I was in awe!

 

[moralem]

No idea what type of clouds these are but they rolled through just the other day.......

 

[Lee Barner]

Moralem, we call those storm clouds in TN. lee

 

[mbliss57]

That is awesome. I would love to see that. I took this pic Sunday morning at sunrise. “Normal clouds” but still very beautiful.

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[Onomea]

Sunrise, Lanikai, Oahu, Hawaii:



Sunset, Kamakura, Japan:



Looking straight up, Kamakura:



Same pic, rearranged:

 

[pharmer]

Sunset, Anna Maria Island, Gulf coast Fl. Joe

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

All I can say is: Oooooooooooooooooo Pretty!

Ivan

 

[moralem]

Moralem, we call those storm clouds in TN. lee

The funny thing is no storm materialized from those clouds and the clouds just rolled on by.....

 

[Redbert31]

Thanks for sharing all the gorgeous photos!

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[M29since14]

I didn’t know you could have clouds 50 miles up. That’s interesting. Thanks for posting, and thanks to others for the great photos. All very nice!

 

[LVSteve]

No idea what type of clouds these are but they rolled through just the other day.......

Those look like mammatus clouds to me.

Mammatus cloud - Wikipedia

 

[Grip_Maker's_Wife]

There is a saying of beautiful landscapes that it is "God's country". I believe there are "God's skies" too. I frequently get amazed by sunsets (and sunrises). Each one is new and different. The colors, light reflection, and glow are just stunning. Here was one from last week when I was out watering the garden.

Edit: I meant to thank everyone for sharing their pictures! They are all gorgeous sunsets or cloud formations! Very nice to see.

 

[Old TexMex]

Sunrise at the beach. Couple months ago.

 

[Kurusu]

Thank you all for sharing the beauty.

 

[mbliss57]

Last night around 10 PM the sky looked incredible! It is a somewhat rare phenomenon called Noctilucent Clouds. It occurs when clouds in the mesosphere (~50 miles up) and are illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon and the lower atmosphere is in the Earth's shadow. Clouds only form in the mesosphere under certain conditions as it is normally too dry. For comparison, Cirrus clouds are only 4-8 miles up. June-July may have the right conditions in the northern hemisphere and they can only be seen from a certain latitude range (45-60 degrees).

I cannot express enough how strange and beautiful the sky looked! I was in awe!

I finally had time to research this phenomena. What a rare sighting. Your area was even in the news. Here is a link or anyone interested. They occur in my neck of the USA too. Northern Ohio and I also grew up in upstate NY. So I may have seen these in my lifetime but if I did I did not appreciate what I was seeing. Thank you for the post.

Rare Noctilucent Clouds, Earth's Highest Clouds, Spotted in the Northern U.S. Over the Weekend | The Weather Channel

 

[armenius]

How beautiful! Have you noticed that people who are always “unhappy” and only concerned with their own petty problems never notice such things.
I have been up to 45000 feet and under water 120 feet and believe I have always seen evidence of “The Almighty”, from small blind cave fish in the total darkness of a spring cavern to experiencing earths curvature and darkened space at mid day at higher altitudes.
Back in the 60’s a study was made to determine why morale was higher in the jet fighter pilots compared to prop transport pilots flying at lower levels. They determined it was the “breakaway” phenomenon,a euphoria brought on by the feeling of detachment with earth.It is a letdown when fuel runs low and you have to come back down.It occurs at about 45,000 ft and above.