Red Sprites: Hurricane Nicole Unleashes Rare Sprite Lightning Before Hitting Florida

Hurricane Nicole generated a rare sprite lightning before hitting Florida earlier this week, according to reports.

The bizarre phenomenon was captured by a photographer based in Puerto Rico.

Details about the sprite, or red sprite, by the end of the week since the event also occurred way above the Earth's atmosphere, different from the typical lightning strike that we see during a storm or hurricane.

For centuries, legends of the red sprite lightning were only based on anecdotal evidence or those narratives coming from eye witnesses.

It was only during over three decades ago that the first photograph of the mysterious lightning came up.

These very high-altitude lightnings are short-lived but they resemble a jellyfish-like shape or tentacles straight from a horror movie or something out of this planet.

Despite the significance of recently-documented sprite, Nicole left a trail of destruction in Florida and its surrounding regions when it navigated its way through the Atlantic Ocean, bringing heavy rain, massive flooding, widespread coastal flooding, and a powerful storm surge.

The death toll related to the now Post-Tropical Cyclone Nicole reached four in Florida after it made landfall in the Sunshine State.

Nicole Generates Rare Lightning

Puerto Rico-based photographer, Frankie Lucena, uploaded on Twitter a video footage of the sprite over Tropical Storm Nicole, indicating that this is one of the red sprites that he captured on the night of November 8.

 

The six-second clip in a black and white format shows that the rare sprite lightning on the left side of the screen and above the valley.

Other photographers in Puerto Rico also saw the strange and rare sight within the storm clouds.

The sprite seemed to appear over one of the outer bands that was producing multiple lightnings, according to Lucena, who told SpaceWeather.com, as cited by Newsweek.

Also Read: Lightning: Red Sprites in Atmosphere, Explained

Red Sprite Lightning

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the phenomenon transpires in the sky above our heads and not in the sea; and even after over 30 years since it has been recorded, the root cause of red sprite lightnings remains unknown.

The mystery of the sprites comes not only due to its rare occurrence but also to its shape and its absence in some thunderstorms.

NASA also acknowledges that the mysterious bursts of light in our planet's upper atmosphere look like a giant jellyfish.

One of the unusual features of a sprite lightning that it is relatively cold, the US space agency added; where they operate more like long fluorescent light tubes rather than hot compact light bulbs.

For several years, sprites have been compared with other upper-atmospheric phenomena, including the short-lived optical ejections called blue jets and disks of dim light called Elves.

Trail of Destruction

Unlike the sprite lightning, former Tropical Cyclone and Hurricane Nicole left various weather phenomena that are much more concrete and destructive during its several days or rampage across the Southeast United States and in the Bahamas, where it also made landfall.

In fact, the most dangerous hazards from Nicole are its powerful winds that caused life-threatening and destructive storm surge along the coastline of Eastern Florida, where beachfront homes were swept away by the Category 1 hurricane, according to CNN.

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