Wacky Weather Wednesday: Sprites

Happy Wednesday everyone! Sorry for the late post but today was a busy one! Today we will be talking about something I have never seen but want to see, a sprite.

A sprite or also known as “red sprites” are large but weak luminous flashes that appear directly above an active thunderstorm system and are coincident with powerful positive cloud-to-ground lightning strokes. Their spatial structures range from small single or multiple vertically elongated spots to bright groupings which extend from above the cloud tops to altitudes up to almost 60 miles. Sprites are usually red and they usually last no more than a few milliseconds, so blink and you will miss it! The brightest region lies in the altitude range of 40 to 45 miles, above which there is often a faint red glow or wispy structure that extends to about 55 miles. Below the bright red region, blue tendril-like filamentary structures often extend down to as low as 20 miles. Some events are loosely packed and may extend across 30 miles or more horizontally. Their shapes have been described as resembling jellyfish, carrots, or falling stars. That is all for today, I will catch you all on Friday!

This entry was posted in Kentucky Weather. Bookmark the permalink.