# Reddish Sky on Cold Days **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddish-sky-on-cold-days/379618 "2006-11-08T22:34:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EverLearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EverLearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EverLearner)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddish-sky-on-cold-days/379618/1 "2006-11-08T22:34:14Z")
Its very cold today and I noticed that the sky is reddish. My mother keeps telling my brothers that they shouldn’t go out since the sky is reddish, meaning its too cold. Why does the sky have this color when it is too cold? ---
**Author:** ![Viscera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/258eb7/32.png) [@Viscera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viscera)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddish-sky-on-cold-days/379618/2 "2006-11-08T23:46:08Z")
Sky color has very little to do with temperature at the ground. The sky could be red due to several factors, most likely cloud type/height, and particulates in the air (smoke, dust, volcanic ash). While these factors can influence temperature (high clouds can raise temps by a few degrees for example) a little bit, there is no relationship to red skies equating to cold weather. Most really cold days will have clear skies. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddish-sky-on-cold-days/379618/3 "2006-11-09T01:07:32Z")
What about that orange glow on the horizon, that you see from October-February? I suspect it is the low angle of the sun in winter-it’s very pronounced herin the NE.