Pink Virga
March 19, 2021
Photographer: Juan Manuel Pérez Rayego
Summary Authors: Juan Manuel Pérez Rayego; Jim Foster
The gauzy, pinkish veil shown above at right center is actually rain falling through the atmosphere, as observed near Merida, Spain. The Sun had been behind these stratocumulus clouds for several minutes prior to the photo being snapped. At first glance, it looked like a pink mist was falling, and then I realized that this precipitation likely wasn’t reaching the ground (virga), as the air near the surface was quite dry. Photo taken at sunset on November 9, 2020.