Pink Light Amid Washington Flood Fuel For Conspiracy Theories

Pink sky/air over Buckley, Washington earlier this month.
Photo from Michael Bradbury via X.

In the midst of those atmospheric river storms in Washington State this month, there was a break in the bad weather right at sunset, the day before yet another brutal storm swept in. 

People in the Seattle area flooded social media - pardon the pun - with photos of a spectacular sunset. It really was gorgeous. 

However, some other people in western Washington posted photos of gloom, but with an odd, distinct pinkish, lavender-ish glow that filled the atmosphere. 

This odd glow was noted as far east as Spokane, not far from the Idaho border. 

Given the times we live in, everybody and their brother has an ominous conspiracy theory for everything. Including the pink glow in Washington. 

It was supposedly a sign the government was unleashing terrible storms on us, for whatever reason they come up with. Maybe it was aliens. Strange energy forces. Maybe even chemtrails. 

To be Captain Obvious, none of those theories are true. 

Here's what likely happened:

The sky over Washington indeed filled with gorgeous sunset colors that late afternoon. Oranges, yellows, reds and pinks. 

In some places, however, all that moisture from the downpours created lots of lingering low clouds and fog,  which obscured that colorful sky. But those colors tried to soak into that fog. The likely result was that otherworldly pink glow. It was just nature doing something interesting and cool.

I've seen this sort of thing around here in Vermont, too. When it happens, it's just an opportunity to enjoy some new colors of nature. 

An example came on June 29, 2024. A warm front was coming through, creating gusty winds, and low, fast-moving clouds. Above those clouds, there was apparently a bright orange sunset. The result down on the ground here in St. Albans was a weird pinkish, purplish, windy summer evening. The video of that evening is below. The pink hue starts at about 1:20 into the video. 

Click this link to view the video.  Or if you see the image below, click on that to watch.