Partly Cloudy Today, Rain Tomorrow! And What In The World Are "Sprites"???

Well, this was the look at around 5:30pm yesterday evening. You can see we did have that squall line develop however it was not developed well. It was more of a scattered line of storms. The problem and or the reason as to why many of us did not see the real rainy weather was do to the fact that it started to develop over our area and then quickly moved off to the east out of the WLFI viewing area. There was a few reports of a few here and there quick downpours in areas however it was nothing big or strong for that matter.

All the real severe weather did in fact stay in the IL, areas and then even to our north in the WI, areas and the MI, areas. There was a total of five tornadoes reported yesterday. All of which stayed where they had the most wind shear to work with. Which was in the southwest parts of IL, and then just to the north of IL, in south WI. I only found this one report below that was from Fountain, county here in the WLFI viewing area. And it was for some good sized hail!! Take a look.....Now some good news for you all is today I think we will stay dry and look for some nice Partly cloudy skies and light winds between 5 and 10 mph. I think we will hold off on our next chance at rain until Wednesday! However we will talk more about that as we get closer..........

Now I know a lot of you was wanting to know about those "Sprite" things I was talking about the other day in one of my older post right?? Well, I myself had never heard of these things before until just the other day when I came across them on one of my weather sites! I think you all will find them as amazing as I did so here are some cool facts I have posted below. Along with some pictures!

In our own century, pilots reported seeing strange lights in the sky above thunderstorms. Low-light cameras on board airplanes and the Space Shuttle have recently made possible the documentation of sprites - quick red flashes of light that appear above storm clouds.

Dr. Dave Sentman of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks is one among a small group of researchers who have been studying these mysterious bursts of colored light. Although no one is sure what sprites really are or what causes them, these scientists have learned that sprites contain a great deal of energy.

"Although we're not yet certain, we suspect that the energies from sprites may be sufficient to drive some novel chemical reactions," said Sentman. "The region of the atmosphere where sprites appear typically doesn't contain a lot of energy, so the energy introduced from a sprite could do some really interesting things."

For instance, there is some speculation that sprites may create nitric oxide (NO) in the upper atmosphere. Nitric oxide destroys ozone, so sprites may have some impact on the Earth's protective ozone layer.

Left: A red sprite with blue tendrils extending downwards. Sprites are emitted near the tops of thunderclouds and reach up into the ionosphere (40-95 km range). Credit: University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

So how would you all like to see a Sprite?? Now I wonder if I'll see one someday! Well, here is how to look for them below. Everyone have a wonderful day! I will check back soon.......... Bloggers Go Sprite Hunting!! LOL :)

How to Look for Sprites(from The UAF website)
For observing sprites, it must be completely dark (not twilight) and your eyes must be dark-adapted. If you can see the Milky Way, your eyes have adapted enough to see sprites.

You need to have a clear view above a thunderstorm. Generally, this means the thunderstorm activity must be on the horizon, without any other clouds to obstruct your view. The best viewing distance from the storm is 200 to 300 km (100-200 miles). At these distances sprites will rise to a vertical distance of 10-20 degrees; 2 to 4 times the separation of the pointer stars in the Big Dipper.

Fix your gaze on the space above an active thunderstorm. To avoid being distracted by underlying lightning activity, you may want to use a piece of paper to block out the area below the clouds.

Sprites are brief - only 3 to 10 milliseconds. They occur too quickly to follow with the eyes, but their vertical structure and red color may be perceived.

Patience will be rewarded. If the right kind of storm is present and one's viewing geometry is favorable, there is a greater likelihood of seeing a sprite than of seeing a shooting star.