After decades forecasting the Bay Area and California weather, there are few things Jan Null, certified consulting meteorologist (CCM), hasn’t seen in the skies.
One of those things, it turns out, is the green flash, an atmospheric optical feature that occurs when weather conditions and visibility are just right.
Null explains how the atmosphere can act like a prism where the green and sometimes blue light can appear at sunset right on the upper curve of the sun as it sets into the ocean.
Other times, a more spectacular version can occur where the green appears to split away from the Sun and rise slightly above it. In these conditions, due to a temperature inversion helping to create a mirage-like effect, the green flash can become a series of beads or lenses just above the sun as it sets.
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But in any case where the Sun is involved, Null adds it is important to use the camera's LCD screen or phone screen while attempting photography or videos and not to look directly at the sun.
Having all the right gear and being in the right place and time however still relies on the weather to insure the potential for a perfect shot. For that, Null says the best days are warm, mostly wind free days near the coast in an offshore wind / high pressure pattern where warmer air rests directly over the cooler marine air below for an inversion.
If skies are clear and a strong inversion is in place with light wind, your odds of getting a more dynamic green flash view could be at their best.
