Did you see it? Here's what made D.C.'s sunset so dazzling on Thursday.

[elleng]

A conveniently placed cloud deck, perfect sun angle and ‘gravity waves’ played a role.

*Vibrant yet delicate hues of orange painted the sky, a thin veil of cloud cover soaking up the fiery tones.

The dazzling sunset was also our earliest sunset of the year — arriving at 4:46 p.m. Daylight hours will continue to shrink until the winter solstice on Dec. 21, even though sunsets will soon begin inching later. (That’s because sunrises are still slipping later.)

So what made Thursday’s sunset so extra special? It was a combination of celestial and meteorological factors that overlapped into a spectacular sky scene. Let’s break down how it all came together.'>>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/12/08/dc-sunset-clouds-spectacular/?