"It's not a filter—how can anyone live there?" Blood-red sky turns blue again after 48 hours

A tropical cyclone slammed into western Australia, turning the sky a shocking shade of red and sparking global attention.
According to the New York Post and other foreign media on the 29th (local time), Shark Bay Caravan Park in Western Australia posted a video of the scene on its official Facebook page on the 27th, writing, "Outside is covered in unbelievably eerie dust. The wind hasn't even picked up that much yet."
The video showed a sky that looked as if a red filter had been placed over the entire landscape. Weather service AccuWeather shared the footage and stressed, "This is not a filter."
The sky turned red because Category 4 Cyclone Narelle, which made landfall in Australia on the 20th, whipped iron oxide–rich soil into the air as dust. Australia’s hot, dry climate means its soil contains high levels of iron. When a powerful storm lifts this iron-rich dust into the atmosphere, shorter blue wavelengths of light are scattered or blocked by the particles, while longer red wavelengths pass through, making the entire sky appear red.
The park later uploaded a new video on the 29th, saying the sky had returned to its usual clear blue just two days later. "Look how much it changed in 48 hours," they wrote, adding, "We are still cleaning up the dust."
Such scenes can also occur during sandstorms and wildfires, not only cyclones. During the massive wildfires along Australia’s east coast in 2019, the daytime sky shifted from black to blood-red, shocking residents. Similar blood-red skies were reported that same year in Jambi Province on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia due to wildfires.
Online users reacted to the story by commenting, "I obviously thought it was a filter," "How can people live in a place like that?" "It feels like a warning from nature and it's terrifying," and "Still, it's a relief the sky turned clear again."

sms@fnnews.com Reporter Sung Min-seo Reporter