A Little Light Reflection

The waves were calm but the sky seemed to portray a warning. This red sky appeared, in the pre-sunrise morning, over Lake Michigan; behind the Kewaunee, Wisconsin lighthouse and pier.

Scenes like this often reminded me of the old adage, “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors warning.”

This thinking was cited by Jesus in Matthew 16:2-3, “…When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’;  and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening…”  Shakespeare wrote something similar in, Venus and Adonis. “Like a red morn that ever yet betokened, Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field, Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.”

According the Library of Congress website, there is some validity to this saying (within limits).  They write…

When we see a red sky at night, this means that the setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually indicates high pressure and stable air coming in from the west. Basically good weather will follow.

A red sunrise can mean that a high pressure system (good weather) has already passed, thus indicating that a storm system (low pressure) may be moving to the east. A morning sky that is a deep, fiery red can indicate that there is high water content in the atmosphere. So, rain could be on its way.

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