Wednesday’s magical, unforgettable sunset in Washington, D.C. (PHOTOS)

(Rich Pezzillo via Facebook)

Wednesday evening’s sunset went viral and was probably Washington, D.C.’s most photographed sky in history. It had it all: color, texture, strange cloud formations and was prefaced and followed-up by remarkable sky views.

We received more photo submissions for this sunset than we ever have before, numbering in the hundreds. Below, I feature those that stood out, although I’m inevitably leaving out some wonderful, worthy efforts. Thanks to all of you who posted photos on our Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr feeds as well as through email.

Setting the scene

Ahead of an incoming weather system, the sky was speckled with altocumulus clouds – like little cotton balls in the sky. The sprawling field of altocumulus painted what’s known as a “mackerel sky” – which, while not common, probably appears several times a year in our region.

(Architect of the Capitol via Flickr)

Silver Spring (Sharri Wolfgang)

(Gwen Wotring via Facebook)

Ashburn, Va. (Kelly Nelson via Facebook)

Nice mackeral sky over the Mall tonight. @capitalweather pic.twitter.com/qJsIOGy1YY

— Phil Yabut (@philliefan_99) November 6, 2013

@capitalweather @capital_climate another angle pic.twitter.com/HVkwrwBhl3 — Mia Chiresa (@miachiresa) November 6, 2013

@capitalweather pic.twitter.com/m2b62KGR2a — Anthony Murray (@murells) November 6, 2013

Sunset shots

As the setting sun intercepted the fields and streaks of clouds, it cast a stunning technicolor light on their forms and textures. As clouds were present in multiple layers, lower clouds projected shadows on higher clouds in some areas.

Up top I mentioned “strange” cloud formations. I’m referring to the presence of a fallstreak hole or “punch hole cloud” evident in the top two images below. Wikipedia describes how these rare sky phenomena develop:

Such holes are formed when the water temperature in the clouds is below freezing but the water has not frozen yet due to the lack of ice nucleation particles (see supercooled water). When ice crystals do form it will set off a domino effect, due to the Bergeron process, causing the water droplets around the crystals to evaporate: this leaves a large, often circular, hole in the cloud.