© Paul SmithRed sprites on April 12, 2020 @ Edmond, Oklahoma
On Easter weekend, a series of severe storms swept across the Southeastern USA, battering the region with powerful thunderstorms and deadly tornadoes. In Edmond, Oklahoma,
Paul M. Smith went outside on Easter morning to photograph the distant lightning. He caught these sprites leaping up from a thunderhead in Arkansas.
"The electrical storm had already passed through our area. These sprites were about 200 miles away, across the state line," he says. "After being stuck in the house for weeks, it was nice to be out and smelling the canola blooms."
Sprites are an exotic form of upward directed lightning. They often appear above the strongest thunderstorms, reaching their red tendrils up toward the edge of space. Last weekend's Easter storms likely produced a great number of sprites. Smith was perfectly positioned to photograph them--"I was just far enough away to see over the cloudtops," he explains.
Comment: With the surge in sightings of red sprites in recent years (which are still considered 'rare' by some) it seems more clues as to the electrical nature of our weather is becoming more apparent:
- Changing atmosphere: Red sprites and a blue jet seen above Europe's stormy skies
- Photographer captures yet another photo of 'rare' red sprites - in skies above Oklahoma
- Strange skies: Red Sprites in Oklahoma, aurora Steve in Canada, iridescent clouds in Illinois and noctilucent clouds in Denmark
- Rare red sprites in action: Mysterious electric tendrils lighting up the sky over Oklahoma filmed
- Unusual outburst of red sprites during storm over Europe, and cosmic ray mapping expands
- 'Strange' Arctic rainbow and red 'summer' sprites in winter - rare atmospheric events on the increase
- Our changing atmosphere: Stunning iridescent cloud over Mexico, complex solar halo over Russia and a triple rainbow over Norway
For more, check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?