South Dakota Sky Mysteriously Turns Green

The sky is supposed to be blue, right?

Well on Tuesday, South Dakotans witnessed a green sky.

As a severe storm made its way across South Dakota the sky turned completely green.

Meteorologist Scott Mendt said the reason behind the green sky is because the “sun’s rays are being refracted by the hail (inside the storm) as the rays pass through the cloud,”

Take a look at the green sky here:

Green Sky’s all of the sudden in South Dakota USA … pic.twitter.com/BxMIolG6mZ

— ⚡️hamaryah Ban Yahawadah 𐤔𐤌𐤓𐤉𐤄 (@eddiedevonne) July 5, 2022

The skies turned green during a recent storm in South Dakota. Meteorologist Shanna Mendiola explains the phenomenon. https://t.co/YzUKTZlUS1

— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) July 7, 2022

Sioux Land explained why the sky turned green:

As a storm front moved into South Dakota on Tuesday, and the night seemed to fall early as 3:00 p.m. saw dark skies cast into a deep and eerie shade of green.

What causes this foreboding shade of green? According to Earthsky.org, the sky normally appears blue due to the process of refraction. “During the day, particles in the air scatter more violet and blue light, and our eyes are more sensitive to blue.”

Meteorologist Scot Mundt said that this same process produces a green sky, with the addition of one important ingredient.

“It’s caused by the sun’s rays being refracted by the hail (inside the storm) as the rays pass through the cloud,” Mundt explained. “It’s the same concept of how a rainbow forms. The sunlight is refracted as it passes through the raindrops, resulting in a rainbow.”

https://twitter.com/IntermariumNews/status/1544595031759245317

A derecho, which is a powerful wind storm extending more than 240 miles, moved through South Dakota and other parts of the Plains on Tuesday. The storm brought powerful winds — up to 99 miles per hour in some areas — and even turned the skies green. https://t.co/azKI3z5KT0

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 6, 2022

Euro News got the scoop too:

The skies above South Dakota, US turned green on Tuesday (5 July) as a particularly strong storm rolled in.

Eerie images appeared on social media showing the peculiar colour of the sky over Sioux Falls, South Dakota just before a thunderstorm swept through the area.

The National Weather Service confirmed that a ‘derecho storm’ barreled through much of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, leaving nearly 30,000 people without power for hours.

Storms qualify as derechos when they have sustained winds of at least 93 km/h and leave a path of damage at least 400 km long, according to the National Weather Service. This particular storm reached a wind speed of 159 km/h.

While residents in South Dakota have grown used to derechos having recently experienced two such storms, the green sky was a highly unusual sight.