On January 24, 2016, photographer and weather blogger Rogerio Pacheco spotted an incredible fireball cloud over the island of Madeira that locals dubbed, ‘the hand of God’.
According to Science Alert, the phenomenon was the result of ‘extraordinary things happening to ordinary clouds’ and perfect timing by Pacheco:
“The red and gold hues are easily explained – they’re caused by the sunrise hitting the cloud at exactly the right time. But what’s causing the dark patches up the top of the fireball, and why is it so much lighter underneath? This is a result of two different altitude clouds mixing at just the right moment, and coming together to form the moody structure.
Different coloured clouds mix between high and low altitudes all the time, but because they’re usually shades of grey, our eyes can’t often distinguish them. It’s only when sunlight hits them like this that their hues become so pronounced.” [source]
Below you can see a couple additional shots of this awesome looking weather phenomenon. For more info check out Rogerio’s Madeira weather blog, Meteo Madeira.
[Meteo Madeira via Science Alert]
