Fukuoka lit up by orange clouds in unusual weather phenomenon

SKY TURNS RED IN JAPAN

Photo: The sky is lit up orange in central Fukuoka at 6:39 p.m. on Sunday.

FUKUOKA -- Central Fukuoka basked in an orange glow on Sunday as rain clouds were lit up by a stream of late sun breaking through a gap in the clouds.

The weather caused buildings in the area to turn a sepia color, giving the city an unusual glow.

Fukuoka metrological officials said that it had been raining intermittently in Fukuoka on Sunday, but there was a break at dusk, and the sun streamed in, lighting up the clouds.

Hiroki Samejima, a Mainichi photographer who also holds a weather forecaster's license said that the sun had apparently hit rain clouds that were lying low as a result of Typhoon No. 11 that had passed through the area, causing the clouds to turn orange.

"When typhoons occur, the rain clouds don't spread out to cover the whole area; it's easy for them to break up as they spread out," he said. "It seems that as this happened, a gap formed in the west, making it easier for the light to come in. Several conditions came together at once to create this unusual phenomenon," he said. (Mainichi)

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