What is a sprite weather?

Sprites are rapid flashes of red light that occur high up in the mesosphere, over 50 kilometres above the ground. Similar to how lightning is an electrical discharge between a cloud and the ground, sprites are electrical discharges between the top of a thunderstorm and the upper atmosphere.

Are sprites real?

If you're looking for sprites or elves dancing in the forest after dark, you might be disappointed—but in a way, they do exist. What are known as “sprites” and “elves” are actually Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) that emerge from the upper atmosphere when thunderstorms are brewing and lightning strikes.

How hot is sprite lightning?

Sprites come from a cold plasma phenomenon, which means they do not have the hot temperature channels that typical lightning has (remember, at 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, lightning is five times hotter than the sun). Sprite formation is more analogous to fluorescent tube discharges than lightning discharges.

What is a red sprite in lightning?

Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.

Can you see sprites?

If you see a thunderstorm in the distance late at night, look at the sky above the clouds and watch closely. You might just glimpse a sprite. Sprites are a type of transient luminous event, like lightning, but fainter, faster and significantly larger, Jessica Leigh Hester explains for Atlas Obscura.

Blue jets, Sprites and Elves formed by electrical activity above storm clouds | Colourful Weather

Why do sprites happen?

Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.

What is the rarest color of lightning?

Green lightning is a rare phenomenon that can be seen during a thunderstorm. Someone who has seen green lightning is extremely lucky as green lightning strikes are rarely seen. It is so rare that the only photograph of a green lightning strike is one from when the Chaiten volcano in Chile erupted.

What is the rarest type of lightning?

ball lightning, also called globe lightning, a rare aerial phenomenon in the form of a luminous sphere that is generally several centimetres in diameter. It usually occurs near the ground during thunderstorms, in close association with cloud-to-ground lightning.

How long do lightning sprites last?

Sprites are predominantly red and they usually last no more than a few milliseconds. The brightest region lies in the altitude range 40 to 45 miles (about 65-75 km), above which there is often a faint red glow or wispy structure that extends to about 55 miles (90 km).

Does red lightning exist?

Sprites, also known as red lightning, are electrical discharges that appear as bursts of red light above clouds during thunderstorms.

Is Pink lightning real?

In snowstorms, where it is somewhat rare, pink and green are often described as colors of lightning. Haze, dust, moisture, raindrops and any other particles in the atmosphere will affect the color by absorbing or diffracting a portion of the white light of lightning.

Why is sprite red?

Red sprites are thought to be caused by a rare but intense form of lightning called positive lightning. Whereas most cloud-to-ground lightning has a negative electric charge, positive lightning has a positive charge.

What is a sprite in storms?

Sprites are rapid flashes of red light that occur high up in the mesosphere, over 50 kilometres above the ground. Similar to how lightning is an electrical discharge between a cloud and the ground, sprites are electrical discharges between the top of a thunderstorm and the upper atmosphere.

Where do sprites typically occur?

Sprites appear as luminous red-orange flashes. They often occur in clusters above the troposphere at an altitude range of 50–90 km (31–56 mi).

What are sprites in real life?

Sprites are these electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds. They are triggered by the positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground. They appear as a reddish-orange color.

Is Gold lightning real?

Yellow lightning is uncommon; however, they tend to be cooler than the blue, lilac and white. They're caused to due to a high concentration of dust in the air. And is an indication of a dry thunderstorm with low-precipitation.

Is there such thing as Black lightning?

Dark lightning appears sometimes to compete with normal lightning as a way for thunderstorms to vent the electrical energy that gets pent up inside their roiling interiors, Dwyer says. Unlike with regular lightning, though, people struck by dark lightning, most likely while flying in an airplane, would not get hurt.

What is fork lightning?

In CG lightning, a channel of negative charge, called a stepped leader, will zigzag downward in a 'forked' pattern - hence it is sometimes called forked lightning. This stepped leader is invisible to the human eye, and travels to the ground in a millisecond.

What is a Superbolt lightning?

“Superbolts” are the most powerful lightning on Earth, with discharges so strong that they cannot be reproduced in the laboratory. The bolts also display geographic and seasonal attributes opposite that of regular lightning, adding to their mystery.

What is Spider lightning?

Spider lightning refers to long, horizontally traveling flashes often seen on the underside of stratiform clouds. Spider lightning is often linked to +CG flashes.

What color is savitar's lightning?

Also, the armor is capable of changing the color of a speedster's lightning as the armor changed Savitar's lightning from yellow to white.

How fast do sprites move through the atmosphere?

The jets propagate upward at speeds of ∼100 km s⁻¹, reaching terminal altitudes around 40 km. Their estimated brightness is on the order of 1000 kR.

Is red lightning hotter than blue?

The color spectrum in this case start with infared which is red and the coolest up to ultraviolet which appears violet and is the hottest. Lightning also can take on a range of colors, depending on conditions in the clouds and in the air. Typically, blue lightning within a cloud indicates the presence of hail.

Are lightning sprites visible?

The elusive sprites, caused by only the most powerful lightning strikes, can sometimes be seen with the naked eye at night, but only last a few milliseconds.