Sydney sky turns red

September 22, 2009

I woke at 6:30 am today to a faint but weird smell in my bedroom. A sort of earthy smell. I needed to go to the bathroom, which was presumably what woke me up, so I clambered out of bed and went into the back room. There, where the venetian blind was raised on the widest window on the house, I was presented with a vista of a blood orange-coloured outside world. All detail in the sky was gone, there was no depth or texture, and all the trees, houses and fences were glowing in warm colours. The air smelled weird, even in the house.

This is not my own photo, but one I found taken by someone else which most accurately reflects what I saw at 6:30.

My own guess about what was going on was that a chemical factory had exploded somewhere in the city. Though it looked armageddony, I note that I did not consider armageddon of any kind as an explanation. When I turned on the radio, I learned Sydney was experiencing a freak dust storm and gale warnings. The colour came from the red topsoil of drought-stricken areas inland that was saturating us.

By midday it had mostly cleared, but it was one of the most extraordinary things I've seen. There are already some cool photo galleries of the event popping up online if anyone's interested in more vision.

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Feedback

Suskie - September 22, 2009 (10:06 PM)
That's awesome.

zippdementia - September 23, 2009 (12:15 AM)
Better vacuum out the PS3.

aschultz - September 23, 2009 (08:58 AM)
I thought this headline was just going to be a catchy word play, but wow. This made it to the news wires and everything.

wolfqueen001 - September 23, 2009 (09:48 AM)
Yeah. I'm with Suskie on this one. That's awesome.

jerec - September 23, 2009 (02:52 PM)
It certainly was eerie. I went for a drive after lunch and saw trails of red dust on the road. My car was absolutely covered in it, too.

Feedback
	Suskie - September 22, 2009 (10:06 PM) That's awesome.
	zippdementia - September 23, 2009 (12:15 AM) Better vacuum out the PS3.
	aschultz - September 23, 2009 (08:58 AM) I thought this headline was just going to be a catchy word play, but wow. This made it to the news wires and everything.
	wolfqueen001 - September 23, 2009 (09:48 AM) Yeah. I'm with Suskie on this one. That's awesome.
	jerec - September 23, 2009 (02:52 PM) It certainly was eerie. I went for a drive after lunch and saw trails of red dust on the road. My car was absolutely covered in it, too.

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