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Virga and cloud shadows over Africa

Posted by in Today's Image | March 6, 2019

Virga is rain that falls but doesn’t reach the ground. It helped create this spectacular scene over Mutare, Zimbabwe, on March 5, 2019.

Spectacular orange sunset clouds, with curved orange virga, above a silhouetted mountain.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Photo by Peter Lowenstein. He wrote: “Some lingering cloud and a strange curtain of virga left over after a late afternoon shower produced a spectacular display just after the sun had set below the horizon.” Thank you, Peter!

Read more: Virga is rain that doesn’t reach the ground

Read more: Cloud shadow

Bottom line: Sunset with virga and cloud shadows, Mutare, Zimbabwe, March 5, 2019.

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Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.

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