Rarest Clouds In The World Spotted In Livermore: Photo Of The Day

LIVERMORE, CA — Livermore resident Glenn Stewart at first didn’t know what he was looking at Friday morning when he saw wisps of clouds shimmering an ethereal silver and electric blue.

He then happened upon an article that confirmed that they are known as “noctilucent (shining light) clouds,” the rarest clouds in the world. The otherworldly clouds form when water droplets crystallize around fine dust particles, resulting in ice clouds that can reflect from the sun, according to a report in SFGate.

Cora Randall, a professor in the University of Colorado Boulder's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, suspects that Friday’s clouds are a result of water vapor from the exhaust of the Falcon 9 SpaceX launch at Vanderberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara.

Matt Mehle, a forecaster for the National Weather Service, told SFGate that he last saw noctilucent clouds in the Bay Area in October 2011 after another rocket launch at Vandenberg.

Did you see the clouds? Send your photos to michael.wittner@patch.com.