Why sailors look to the red sky?

You don’t need to be a meteorologist to have heard, “Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning. Red skies at night, a sailor’s delight.” The idea behind the red sky is fully based on the scattering of particles that comes from a cloud, or in this case, a low-pressure system.

Since the sun rises in the east, and storms in the mid latitudes move from west to east due to wind patterns, sunlight ends up hitting a storm that is out west which creates a red sky. Translated – a storm is en route.

Conversely, as the sun sets in the west, the scattering light from the sun hits storm clouds to the east. Since they are moving from west to east, this indicates a storm is moving away from you. Sailors delight!

While there are few absolutes with weather, this old folklore is rooted in truth.