Red Sprites Spotted Near Joplin, Missouri May Be Weather’s Most Magical Phenomenon

This is not something you see every day. Most of us will never witness them. A photographer shared a stunning pic of red sprites over a Missouri thunderstorm.

First of all, thank you to Paul M Smith Photography for giving us permission to share his work. This week he shared a weather phenomenon that is not common for us regular folks. Red sprites are large scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds according to Wikipedia.

This is the pic that Paul shared to Facebook this week.

One of my favorite storm chasers Pecos Hank explained red and blue sprites in a video last year.

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My wife is a meteorologist and clued me into Paul M Smith's work. According to his website, he offers storm chasing adventures. The storms he captured the red sprites from were over both Missouri and Arkansas. He also offers workshops if you'd like to find out how to up your storm photography game.

Thanks again to Paul for allowing us to share his work. If not for his skills in this special type of photography, most of us would never see this phenomenon for ourselves.

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