“As sunlight shines down to Earth, most of the colors of the spectrum are able to reach the surface uninterrupted,” meteorologist Lauren Rautenkranz said after Hurricane Michael in 2018. “But the shorter wavelengths, blue and violet, are scattered in every direction. This light bounces from particle to particle until it eventually reaches your eyes. But the sky doesn’t appear violet and blue because of our eyes’ limitations.”

“The light was scattered around the moisture in the air, causing the magical purple color.”