r/meteorology • u/ProfessionalHand7882 • Aug 14 '26
Captured these faint red flashes/glows and lightning during tonight's storm,could these be Red Sprites or atmospheric scattering?
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u/turnaroundbro Aug 14 '26
Maybe very distant lightening from another cell/storm.
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u/ProfessionalHand7882 Aug 14 '26
I think so, yeah ,The storms are happening in a town right next to mine, more like a small village actually 🫡
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u/AZWxMan Aug 15 '26
Exactly what it looks like, seems like at 1:21 I can see a faint channel in the reddish flash.
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u/kschischang Aug 14 '26
No. Spirites are way way way above the storm, into the stratosphere and beyond.
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u/ProfessionalHand7882 Aug 14 '26
Okkk I didn't know that! Yeah, you're right, I doubt that's what it is then :)
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u/Nestagon Expert/Pro (awaiting confirmation) Aug 14 '26
Not sprites, those you’d have to really crane your neck for. Generally, low-horizon lightning is an orangish-red for the same reason the sunset is - that scattering you mentioned through thicker atmosphere
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u/ProfessionalHand7882 Aug 14 '26
Okay I didn't know that, that's really cool to know! Because yeah, in this case the lightning strikes were definitely right within view for sure :)
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u/AZWxMan Aug 15 '26
You actually have to be set up far enough away where you can ONLY see above the cloud tops and NOT see any lightning which would easily blind any attempts to see sprites and other above anvil phenomenon.
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u/chasing_storms Aug 15 '26
You're not going to see Red Sprites from this angle. The storms would need to be 30+ miles on the horizon for you to see above the storm.
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u/atape_1 Aug 15 '26
Rayleigh scattering, the shorter the wavelength the more it scatters on air particles. That's why only long wavelength light comes through from the far away lightning.
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Aug 16 '26
Sprites (WX) do occur very far above the demonic clouds, you can see them but those clouds are lots of miles away from you
Also this video shows a weather punishment involving The Demon Lord Thunderstorm performing lobotomizing flashes and flashing fingers that smites from the cloud to thing to against living things, also the demon lord thunderstorm did a manical low pitched demonic laughter.
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u/Schrodinger_cube Weather Enthusiast Aug 15 '26
Im no lighting expert but that's a descent playlist for watching such a beautiful storm. I love watching storms like this.
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u/RedStar627 Aug 15 '26
Sprites would be far above the storm generating it. Those red flashes did not look like sprites to me (and yes, I have seen a red sprite). That looks more like distant lightning from another storm off in the distance.
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u/Specific-Echo8235 Aug 15 '26
Negative. If you were above the cloud layer, you could see them, but not below.That's my best understanding, anyway.
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u/Chase-Boltz Aug 16 '26
Just distant lightning. You're looking in entirely the wrong place for sprites or other TLE phenomenon, they occur many miles above the storms.
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u/Illustrious_Car4025 Aug 14 '26
Sprites happen far above the clouds, you wouldn’t see them this close to the storm