Does A Green Sky Mean A Tornado Is Coming?

Back when I was in the very lucrative pizza delivery business and thus living with my parents...I saw this green sky from my window. I went to turn on the TV to figure out what was going on, and before I could get to the TV, the tornado sirens sounded. We rushed to the basement as the winds howled outside.

A tornado never formed, but straight line winds did some damage to the house. A green sky does not always mean a tornado is coming. However, a green sky is associated with strong thunderstorms that sometimes produce a tornado. So if you see dark ominous storm clouds and the sky turns a tint of green, make sure you turn on the TV or radio to figure out what's going on. If you hear the sirens, just head for the basement.

So Why Does the Sky Turn Green?

No one knows exactly, but here's one idea...The colors that comprise sunlight get absorbed, reflected and scattered as they encounter the particles in our atmosphere (like Water, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Dust, etc...)

Exactly why the green hue appears is not exactly known, but the tremendous amount of water vapor, ice crystals, and rain in the air during strong T-storms may be the culprit. Perhaps sunlight that does encounter all those water molecules, gets selectively scattered, meaning mainly the green part of the sunlight is scattered. This optical phenomena is the reason behind our sky being blue and sunsets being red. Depending on the angle of the incoming sunlight, it will be selectively scattered and thus only certain colors in the color spectrum are scattered. Remember that this is just one theory, and no definitive explanation has been proven. (For more on why sunsets are red click here)