The SKY is ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sourplum]

Sydneysiders have woken to a red haze unlike anything seen before by residents or weather experts, as the sun struggles to pierce a thick blanket of dust cloaking the city this morning.
Callers flooded talkback radio, others hit social networking sites and scores of emails were received from smh.com.au readers as Sydney residents expressed their amazement at this morning's conditions.
"It's just red, red, red as far as you can see," one caller at the Anzac Bridge told 2GB.



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The fiery haze was the result of the sun hitting the blanket of dust, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jane Golding said.
"The reason for the dust is we had some really strong winds in the inland areas of NSW and in South Australia for a sustained period yesterday," she said.
"That's lifted a whole lot of dust off the ground because it's quite dry out there, many of those areas are still drought affected."


The lifted dust had been carried by the winds into Sydney.
"I've not seen anything like this before," Ms Golding said.
The reddish haze was expected to fade as the sun got higher in the sky, Ms Golding said. The haze had turned from a crimson red to orange by about 7am, and then faded to yellow by about 7.30am.

But it was not known what would happen to the dust.
"This is such an infrequent event ... it's hard to say when the dust will stop."


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The dust has caused havoc with the city's transport system this morning, with visibility on the roads reduced to just a few hundred metres in some places.

International and domestic flights at Sydney Airport were delayed as a result of the "strong winds and dust haze", a spokesman said.
A number of incoming international flights had been diverted to Melbourne and Brisbane, although some flights had managed to land in Sydney, he said.


Sydney's ferries were also suspended due to poor visibility on harbour.


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Health problems
Emergency services had also been stretched by the conditions.
The Ambulance Service said it had experienced an increase in calls from asthma sufferers as a result of the dust haze this morning. Some were taken to hospital, a spokeswoman said.
The Fire Brigade received over 500 calls between 3am and 7am, triggered by automatic fire alarms. It normally received only 30 a day in that time period.


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[Ken Cheng]

In the DC Comics Universe, reddish skies are a harbinger of a cosmic crisis that threatens all existence:

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[yittz]

How did I miss it? I woke up at 8.30 and it wasn't that red. A slight orange/yellow tinge, but nothing special. Then all these pics are going onto FB and in the newspapers.

[Guo Xiang]

Nothing unusual. I've seen orangey/red skies a couple of times before.

Though I must say a blue sky looks a lot more friendlier.

[HuangYushi]

At the height of the haze season of 2005 (if I remember right), we had orange sky, bad air and visibility below 500m for nearly a week in my neck of the woods! Not the nicest thing to live through.

[Banh Mi]

Ah, that explains this message I saw on facebook.

Seriously whoever's doin it, stop throwing curry powder all over sydney.

[milKBoi]

I woke up at 7am, and it was sooooooooooooo red. I thought there was a fire but no it was all dust. Hmm.. i guess thats what it feels like if we were to live on Mars aye. I don't like red sky.

[RustedStone]

hi sourplum,
thanks for posting your pictures. your "red sky" made the cover of yahoo here in the states, only they called it "Armageddon". The pictures are incredible. We have friends down there... stay safe.

[Crazy8]

that actually looks cool. i like the scenery but i dont want to live there.
anyways how did this coating of dust happen all of a sudden?

[Crazy8]

i would be really scare if this happen in 2012

[Guo Xiang]

It's now 7.30 in the morning. The sky's gray, but there's an orange hue about. :\

[fridaythe13th]

We thought the end of the world was here......well not really, but it was such a sight yesterday morning.

[jiang bao]

The Martians are coming!