"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue" but did you ever wonder how weather colors came to be? Weather observation can be a fun, educational pastime.

Weather and its colors are fascinating. Although the earth's atmosphere is colorless, colors are created by a variety of factors. For example, dust particles diffuse the sun's light waves into various directions: the blue, violet and green wavelengths are shorter and scattered across the sky, so we see it as blue. Depending on the amount of dust and water vapor in the air, the shade of blue will vary. There are also red and orange wavelengths in sunlight but we only see them at sunrise and sunset when the sun is lower in the sky, allowing those wavelengths to be scattered more effectively than the rest of the day.

Did you ever wonder why clouds are sometimes white, sometimes grey and sometimes black? Clouds consist of water droplets and they bring together all the wavelengths of sunlight's color spectrum and appear to us as white. However, clouds thicken as water accumulates and won't let more light through. As this happens, the clouds appear grey, then black.

Clouds can give us a good idea of coming weather changes. Even amateurs can learn a lot from watching clouds. For example, if you see high-level clouds increasing, followed by low-level clouds, you are likely to get snow or rain soon.

Learn the difference in cloud shapes. For example, cumulus clouds have a flat bottom and are puffy and mountainous looking on top. If you see just a few of them, no problem, but if they start to building up quickly, get ready for a heavy thunderstorm with heavy winds and rain and possibly hail.

Around the earth's middle section, weather systems generally go from west to east, but wind deflected by mountains and bodies of water can change the direction of these systems. For example, in the Great Lakes region, some areas along the water may get dramatically more winter snow than other areas only a few miles away. Similarly if there is a large thunderstorm, it can draw air in to fuel itself. This can cause the wind to actually blow in the opposite direction than the storm is moving.

Meteorology, the study of weather and climate, is a fascinating study. By watching weather patterns you will see the earth in a whole new light. There are many useful sites on the internet to help you with information, but you can easily get started at home. Simply write down what you notice concerning weather, temperature, pressure and clouds on a regular basis. As you compare what happens day by day and even hour by hour, you will learn a lot about how our world works.