Ground Reflections and Green Thunderstorms

Abstract

It has been suggested that green light often observed in association with severe thunderstorms is caused by sunlight being reflected onto the cloud by green vegetation. Colorimetric observations were recorded of green-colored and blue-colored thunderstorms in conjunction with spectral measurements of the light reflected by the ground beneath the storms. Simple numerical models were used to evaluate the likelihood of ground-reflected light causing the green color in storms. Both the observations and calculations indicate that the green light seen in severe thunderstorms is not caused by light reflected from green foliage.