Sky turns blood red in ominous warning for Australia
Aussies got quite the fright after opening their curtains to find that the sky had turned blood red.
Locals were left stunned by the 'incredibly eerie' sight that they were met with on Friday (27 March) thanks to Cyclone Narelle.
It's the first storm system to make landfall in three different states and territories in more than 20 years and it has left a trail of destruction in its wake.
Cyclone Narelle brought wind gusts of over 105mph and unleashed heavy rainfall Down Under after it smashed into Queensland's Cape York Peninsula last week.
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It then barrelled through the Northern Territory and strengthened over the Indian Ocean, before then hitting Western Australia. Exmouth is believed to be one of the worst hit areas.
One surprising side-effect of the cyclone was that it bizarrely managed to turn the sky blood red before it really unleashed havoc in Western Australia.
Footage shared on Facebook by Shark Bay Caravan Park, which is based in the town of Denham, shows the 'apocalyptic' appearance of the sky on Friday.
"Incredibly eerie outside and everything is covered in dust," the caravan park said. "Not a lot of wind yet. Lets hope we get enough rain to wash it all off. It’s an inside day for us, that’s for sure."
It's safe to say social media users couldn't believe their eyes, as the comment section was filled with people sharing their thoughts on the spooky hue.
One person compared it to 'Armageddon', while another joked: "That's zombie apocalypse opening scene right there."
A third said: "Looks like a sci-fi movie! Stay safe folks!"
While a fourth wrote: "Are you in Shark Bay or on Mars? That's crazy!!"
A lot of people suspected that a filter had been used to intensify the colour of the sky, however, Shark Bay Caravan Park insisted it was the raw footage.
"No filter," the firm said. "This is it. You can feel the dust in your eyes and mouth."
It is believed that the red sky was a result of the powerful winds whipping up iron oxide-rich soil into the atmosphere.
According to WJLA-TV meteorologist Veronica Johnson, 'multiple factors' played a role.
"When sunlight hits the atmosphere, it appears white most of the time," she explained. "But it's actually all the colours of the rainbow scattered and interacting with gas molecules, dust, and microscopic water droplets.
"When the sun is directly overhead, the sky looks blue because shorter wavelengths of light are easily scattered.
"When the sun angle is low, as at dawn or dusk, light has to pass through more of the atmosphere and appears red and orange due to its longer wavelengths."
Johnson explained that the sky can look red 'whenever there are more microscopic air particles in the sky'.
"This can be anything from dust to wildfire smoke to pollution," the weather expert said. "In Western Australia, winds from Cyclone Narelle off the coast likely kicked up much of the desert sand, leading to a redder sky.
"These larger particles enhance something called Mie scattering, which boosts the red and orange tones and can make the sky look dramatically deeper in colour - sometimes even blood red."
On Saturday, Shark Bay Caravan Park shared another post informing customers the team were 'all good' accompanied by footage of clear blue skies.
"Shark Bay was very fortunate and Narelle decided to travel in a more easterly direction in the end," the post said.
However, the crew said it did leave behind a thick 'layer of dust' that has coated the caravan park, so they've got a big cleaning job on their hands over the next few days.
Topics: Weather, World News, Weird, Australia, Science
Olivia Burke