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A French weather forecaster has photographed two rare red sprites, flashes of light that form high above thunderstorms, appearing at the same moment over southern France.
Yohan Laurito, founder of the local forecasting group Meteo-Varoise, captured the images shortly before 3:00 a.m. local time (1:00 a.m. GMT) over the Var region, near the town of Brignoles.
Meteo-Varoise said the glows were linked to powerful storm systems developing far away, between Spain’s Balearic Islands and Catalonia. Because sprites occur at very high altitudes, they can be seen from several hundred kilometers away under the right conditions.
Sprites belong to a family of phenomena known as transient luminous events, according to the regional outlet Var Actu. Unlike ordinary lightning, which forms inside or beneath storm clouds, sprites erupt in the upper atmosphere, above the storms.
Meteo-France describes them as electrical discharges that can occur dozens of kilometers up. They are triggered by the electrical activity of powerful thunderstorms and last only a few milliseconds.
The color is linked to nitrogen. During the discharge, nitrogen molecules in the upper atmosphere are excited and glow red. Sprites take different shapes, sometimes resembling columns hanging above storms or giant jellyfish.
Despite their dramatic look, sprites are hard to observe directly. They are faint and extremely brief, so most go unnoticed by the naked eye.
Photographing them takes sensitive equipment, careful camera settings and a good forecast of storm activity that may be far from the observer. The first photographic evidence of sprites was not obtained until the late 1980s.
The images are part of Laurito’s long-running work tracking storms and atmospheric light phenomena. Based in Brignoles, he produces local forecasts and monitors weather events that could affect the region. He has also worked as a weather specialist with the Var fire department since 2019.
Laurito, who is passionate about photographing storms and atmospheric light displays, said the shot came after years of observation.
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