SPRITE SEASON BEGINS: Spring is the season for sprites, and Paul Smith just photographed a magnificent display over Kansas. "These were my first big sprites of the season," says Smith, who took this picture on April 6th:

https://imgur.com/qh5zsM8

"They were so bright, I saw a couple of them with my unaided eyes," he adds.

Sprites are a weird form of lightning that leap up from powerful thunderstorms. These are "jellyfish sprites", named for their resemblance to sea creatures. Their red tentacles stretch about 90 km high, almost touching the edge of space.

At this time of year, severe storms set the stage for sprite formation. Mesoscale convective systems sweep across the Great Plains, cracking with intense electric fields that drive electrons up and into sprites. La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean may amplify this process.

[link to www.spaceweather.com (secure)]