A Sky on Fire Evening in Northern San Diego.

A tropical storm driven sunset

With the building El Niño pushing very warm water up off our coast, we’re receiving more than our usual share on hot, tropical weather.

We owe this view to tropical storm Polo which crossed the Baja peninsula the other day. When a tropical system churns off the coast of Baja, it pushes thin, high-altitude cirrus clouds hundreds of miles north into Southern California.

As the sun dips beneath the horizon, its light travels through a thicker layer of atmosphere, filtering out blue light and illuminating the underside of these high clouds with vibrant oranges and deep pinks. Combine that high-altitude canvas with crepuscular shadow rays, and you get sky-on-fire evenings like this one over the Pacific here in Northern San Diego County.