A Cloud Shadow Sunrise
What could cause a ray of dark? Such a ray was caught in spectacular fashion above the Florida Everglades two years ago. The cause is something surprisingly familiar: a shadow . The gold-tinged cloud near the horizon blocks sunlight from reflecting off air behind the cloud, making that column of air appear unusually dark . Cloud shadows can be thought of the inverse of the more commonly highlighted crepuscular rays , where sunlight pours though cloud holes. Another seemingly opposite phenomenon, a sun pillar , involves small ice crystals floating high in the atmosphere.