No green flash?

When sunset arrives on the Kona Coast of the Big Island you will see cars pull off the highway to watch for the green flash. You will find that most of the people who pull off are locals who have been observing this phenomenon for years. We saw our first Kona green flash in 1979 and have been pulling over to look at it ever since. 

Most people have no idea, or a wrong idea, about the green flash. It is a phenomenon that occurs just as the sun sets below the horizon. We see it often at the ocean horizon, but we have also seen it over at Kilauea volcano as the sun set behind the sharp edge of Mauna Loa. Just as the sun is disappearing below the horizon, its rays are passing through the thickest part of the atmosphere and are split into its components, just like in a prism. Most of the components are absorbed by the atmosphere, but the green is predominant. Thus, at the instant the sun disappears it will turn green, not a flash that lights up the entire sky, but an unmistakable green color directly at the point where the sun disappears below the horizon. So pull to the side of the road at the appropriate time and, if the horizon is cloud-free, you will get to see the green flash.

However, most often the horizon is not cloud-free, especially with the current volcanic activity which produces a haze at the horizon. Does that mean that the Kona sunset is not worth looking at? Actually, that volcanic haze and the proper cloud formations can produce sunsets which are truly spectacular and worthy of photographs. Below are a couple of reasons to pull over and enjoy the end of the daylight.