• Just before Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan, the sky turned an electric purple and pink.
  • Before evacuating their homes, the residents took pictures of the dazzling sky and posted them to social media. They’re now going viral.
  • The peculiar weather phenomenon is known as scattering. It occurs when heavy rain washes the large molecules out of the sky that typically absorbs most light. Just the small molecules are left, and they cause the rest of the light to scatter.
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Hours before Typhoon Hagibis made a devastating impact on Japan, citizens noticed a peculiar weather phenomenon in the sky.

To the confusion of many, the sky didn’t turn a dark grey as it does before most storms. Instead, the clouds turned a deep purple, almost looking like cotton candy.

Before the residents evacuated their homes, they turned to social media to document the strange phenomena. Check out below what the sky looked like from the streets of Japan.

https://twitter.com/ika_mesugorira/status/1182656293477244929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The purple sky is actually known as scattering, and it occurs when heavy rains rid the atmosphere of larger particles that abord most light. What's left are smaller particles that scatter the light in all directions. The result is an electric sky, filled with purple and pink colors.

While it may be a natural phenomenon, it may also foreshadow devastation to come.

"A beautiful scene, indeed," one Twitter user wrote. "But beneath it lies a big catastrophe. Pray for Japan, everyone."