"Nick" wrote in message
...
Sorry for the late report but there was something a little unusual
at
sunset last night as observed from hills just west of Winchester.
Visibility was generally goodish but towards the WNW (where the sun
was going down) was a patch of quite thick haze. The sun dimmed
noticeably as it sank through that haze, and then became brighter
again as it emerged from it. It was definitely not a cloud effect -
the sun looked like it did on a hazy day as it sank through the haze
rather than looking as it does through cirrus. I also thought I saw
what looked like smoke emanating from very low in the WNW, in the
clearer air below the haze patch. Would this have been a patch of
water vapour from a chimney somewhere (at an estimate, the Bristol
area), forming a small patch of poor visibility?

Nick


.... we get this effect when there are large heath fires around - the
evening inversion traps the smoke particles given the haze effect.
Also seen this in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire & South Yorkshire back
in the 1970s/1980s, when widespread stubble burning of fields was
normal practice.

Martin.


--
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023