LACROSSE, Wis. – Skies in southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin turned deep green to orange at dawn because of an unseasonable phenomenon, the National Weather Service said. Actually it was two phenomena, according to the meteorologists. Ice crystals forming in tall cumulus clouds reflected light from the sun above the clouds, giving off a green hue – somewhat like hail in summer thunderstorms. The yellow-orange tint was smoke from Rocky Mountain National Pak in Colorado. The jet stream carried the smoke in the upper atmosphere.
