St. Patrick's Day: Green things in the Weather World

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀

In honor of today’s popular hue, here’s a list of four green things in the weather world:


1. Northern Lights/Aurora

The ethereal displays at the north and south poles are a result of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind. Green is the most common color we see due to charged particles hitting oxygen atoms in the atmosphere.


2. Stormy green skies

Eerily green skies are sometimes witnessed in the vicinity of severe storms. When air becomes charged with electricity (ionized), it can cause refracted light filtered through particles in the air to shift to shorter, more blue wavelengths, resulting in a greenish hue to the sky. (PC: Jaden K. @jkarmill)


3. Green flash

This meteorological optical phenomena can occur at sunset and sunrise when conditions are just right. Refracted light through the atmosphere can cause a very brief, green “flash” as the sun rises above and dips below the horizon. (PC: Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0)


4. Green on radar maps

The colors on a weather radar map represent precipitation type and intensity. In most cases, green indicates light or moderate rainfall.


Can you think of any other 🟢 greens in meteorology? Let us know!

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