Wildfires Cause The Sun And Moon To Glow Red In Arizona

Arizona residents were in awe as they captured images of the sun and moon on Tuesday morning as both were glowing bright red in the early morning sky.

Local meteorologists said that the red hues were from wildfire smoke blowing into the state from California and Oregon, causing the smoky skies to add a red tint to the sun and moon.

Local photographer Jim Burwell shared a video of the phenomenon to social media. He told Fox 10, "I actually couldn't believe my eyes. Originally I thought it was the moon but then realized it was the sun. I've been in Arizona all my life and witnessed thousands of beautiful sunrises over the years, but I've never seen it do this before. I knew we were seeing something pretty special."

The wildfire smoke caused certain wavelengths of color to be scattered, causing the orange-red hue. Ken Drozd, Warning Coordinator Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson, said, "Blue and green wavelengths of visible light are scattered by the smoke particles, while more of the red gets through."

A similar event occurred in last month's Arizona wildfires.

Photo Credit: Getty Images