Good Sunrise Viewing
published 2026-04-27
by Christopher Howard
One small note from last Saturday morning (2026-04-25) at 9am: I spotted a snow colored hare through our kitchen window. I called Emily and the boys over for a look. Its fur was mostly white, mottled with brown toward the middle. When not moving, it is difficult to spot. It had long, upright ears. I guessed the body was about 1.5 ft long when in a resting position, i.e., not stretched out.
This Monday morning (2026-04-27) I got up about 4:10am. Remembering that it was party cloudy yesterday, I checked the forecast right away and determined that there might be partly cloud conditions again this morning, which gives hope for a good sunrise show. Sunrise time calculated at 5:35am. So, I rushed through my shower and such and headed out as quickly as I could, making it to the Dike Rd turnoff, on the south end of the airport runway, at a little past 5am.
I do not have a camera this year, but hopefully the verbal description is enjoyable. For the following description, understand that I was looking NE, toward the sunrise, across the runway, toward some distant hills. I was focused on three layers of clouds above that, maybe 10 or 15 degrees above the hills. The bottom layer, just above the hills, was far distant, thick, and mostly continuous. Just above that layer was a middle layer of scattered clouds, mainly in three clumps, with a few more specks of cloud here and there. The top layer was a large, continuous, thick layer. When I say "layer" I mean how they look from my perspective, not their actual altitude.
5:09am
Deep pink (purple) on top layer. Middle layer a whitish-orange. The nearer hills are gray in color with a tint of blue. The more distant hills are grayish blue. I can see the airport runway lights strobing every second or two.
5:13am
Top layer now has mixed strands of gray-purple and medium pink, with some gray-orange near the bottom of the layer. Middle clouds are now bright orange. The sky near the horizon is whitish-blue, while the rest of the sky is light blue.
5:17am
A light orange vertical shaft of light begins to form above the sunrise, with some rays going to left or to the right at a 30 or 40 degrees away from the main shaft. The orange color becomes more pronounced on the bottom of the top layer of clouds, with some purple highlights still visible near the top. The clouds in the middle are now a deeper orange with some gray on the tops.
5:21am
The bottom of the top layer is now dark orange. The right side of the top layer has rippling highlights of purple amid gray. The middle scattered layer is mostly gray. The bottom layer just above the hills is bright white-orange.
5:27am
The "rippling" purple and gray has become more pronounced, with a rough and very bumpy texture. Just above the hills, the bright orange sunlight emphasizes some interesting parallel streaking patterns in the lowest clouds.
5:30am
The middle layer of scattered clouds becomes white, with a few sparkling bright white specs which look like the glittering light from white gems. The white-orange glow at the main point of the sunrise has now become bright enough to be a little painful to look at.
5:34am
A large twin engine jet takes off from the airport and passes directly overhead. After that, I can hear the sound of a few birds singing — a few chirps and twitters here and there. The ground and sky around me brightens dramatically.
Copyright
This work © 2026 by Christopher Howard is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.