Amazing Timelapse Shows Florida Sky Turning Purple Following Hurricane Dorian

Photographs taken of Hurricane Dorian's massive eye and the damage it caused in the Bahamas paint a picture of what it was like to live through the historic storm. But some of the most stunning images to come out of the event were captured after the hurricane had passed. As KENS5 reports, the time-lapse video below shows the sky over Florida turning a unique shade of purple in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

Dorian skimmed the east side of Florida earlier this week, causing power outages and some flooding. The worst of the storm was over by Wednesday night, but the ominous purple clouds it left behind may have sparked concern among some Florida residents.

A purple sky following a hurricane is the result of a perfectly natural occurrence called scattering. The sky was super-saturated after Dorian arrived, and the moisture in the atmosphere refracted the light of the setting sun. Normally, only the longest wavelengths of light on the color spectrum are visible through the clouds—that's why sunsets often appear gold, pink, and orange.

Violet is the shortest wavelength on the spectrum, which means it's almost never visible in the sky. But the air's high dew point Wednesday night, combined with the dense low-hanging clouds, created the perfect conditions for a rare purple sky.

Locals who've lived through a few hurricanes may have recognized the phenomenon; the same thing happened after Hurricane Michael hit Florida last year.