A unique sight occurred in the Boston skies this morning: cloud shadows. Just minutes after sunrise Friday, a fast-moving low cloud deck arrived over the city, giving way to an incredible visual from Memorial Drive in Cambridge. The Prudential Center & 200 Clarendon cast shadows into the clouds as the sun continued to rise. NBC10 Boston photographer, Mark Garfinkel grabbed these eerily beautiful shots.
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Other viewers were understandably somewhat confused and thought that some smoke and flames were coming from the buildings; multiple calls to 911 resulted.
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So what exactly is a cloud shadow? When the sun is below the horizon, for many minutes before sunrise (or just after sunset), the rays of light still directly illuminate the sky, and they point more upward. This is why clouds can be bright before sunrise, and after sunset. It’s also why you see shadows pointing upward, not down.
The low angle of the sun cast a larger-than-life silhouette that loomed over the surrounding buildings. The Pru & 200 Clarendon’s height blocked some of the rays, they actually cast their own shadows into the clouds!
