An unusual pink or purplish glow south of Vancouver caught the eye of a few people posting to social media Sept. 29.
And while some colours in the sky are natural, these were not. Plant growers may recognize the shade of pink as one commonly used to help grow plants. The idea first was discussed about a decade ago and has been catching steam since after breakthroughs in LED technology. It's beginning to be used by greenhouses now, creating huge glowing buildings.
While we know the glow is thanks to local greenhouses, however, the glow didn't come specifically from the Pure Sunfarms operation in East Ladner; that's a common theory online, but when asked by Vancouver Is Awesome a spokesperson for the cannabis grower noted they don't use pink lights, only white.
Additionally, that business uses light abatement curtains to keep the glow to a minimum, as to not interfere with the local wildlife. They noted that staff there believe the pink glow seen last night comes from the east.
Along with the LED greenhouse lights being a relatively new technology, there's another reason last night caught a lot of people off guard. There was a low cloud ceiling - which helped show the colour in the sky, essentially.
"We did have some heavier rainfall which did result in clouds being dragged down," explains Environment Canada meteorologist Derek Lee.
Cloud ceilings can vary from none, essentially (a clear night, a blue sky), to very low. Last night they were at the right height and moisture to clearly reflect the light from the ground and be seen above the trees and buildings. Lee says it was around 2,000 and 3,000 feet for the most parts, but adds reports from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond dropped it to 1,000 or 1,500 ft.
Because of the heavy rain, he notes, clouds become more saturated and are pulled lower in the atmosphere and lower levels becoming mistier. The closer they are the more light they can reflect. Last night a rain warning was in effect for the Vancouver area.
