Floridians Reported Eerie Purple Skies Before Hurricane Milton’s Fury—A Meteorologist Explains

As Floridians waited in anticipation for Hurricane Milton to make landfall, some reported a strange happening in the sky. Photos and videos on social media show a beautiful, purple-colored sky that looks inviting and happy. But this time, it meant a storm was brewing.

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For the sky to turn a stunning shade of purple, everything must be just right in the atmosphere.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio explained how it happens following Hurricane Delta’s similar skies in 2020. “You don’t necessarily have to have a tropical cyclone to see skies like that, just the right atmospheric conditions to allow the necessary amount of light scattering.”

Brett has seen purple skies in places like Michigan, filled with lakes but not near the ocean.

AccuWeather explains that the sun creates colors as it emits shortwave radiation, creating Rayleigh Scattering.

“This is why the sky appears blue on a nice sunny day with the sun high in the sky,” Brett said. “Some of the ultraviolet rays make it to the surface, which leads to sunburn, and the oranges, reds and yellows on the spectrum are of the longwave variety and are not scattered, therefore they appear as visible white light.”

Even though Hurricane Milton helped create the purple sky some Floridians saw. Brett said predicting when the sky will turn a specific color is like predicting where a rainbow will form.

“You occasionally can get a pink hue in the sky, especially near sunset, that is superimposed with a dark blue sky above,” Brett said. “If you have the right angle, especially in the evening hours, the pink hue that is superimposed with the dark blue sky produces a purple. This is often the case if you have low ceilings of stratocumulus clouds overhead in the eastern sky and clearing in the west.”

Upuknews shared a video and images of the purple sky on X that surprised many.

Someone wrote, “That purple sky over Florida is both mesmerizing and unsettling! It’s rare to see something like this, especially with Hurricane Milton approaching. Nature’s beauty and power collide in the most unexpected ways.”

This story’s featured image can be found here.