A photographer primarily based out of Puerto Rico has captured gorgeous photos of upside-down lightning created by the storm occasion that ultimately escalated into Hurricane Franklin. The uncommon phenomenon flashed throughout the sky, and Frankie Lucena was simply quick sufficient to seize images, capturing it earlier than it may fade away utterly.
This phenomenon is extra generally generally known as gigantic jets, they usually type when upward-moving lightning bolts, that are the rarest and strongest sort of lightning, crack throughout the sky. Scientists say these occasions occur as few as 1,000 occasions a 12 months and pack greater than 50 occasions the facility of a conventional lightning bolt just like the one seen on the prime of the article.
The upside-down lightning bolts are able to reaching upwards of greater than 50 miles above Earth’s floor. Meaning these bolts typically contact the underside of the ionosphere, releasing their electrical cost into an unlimited layer of electrically charged particles. It’s a captivating phenomenon, and seeing it captured in images is nearly surreal. Lucena additionally shared a video of the occasion on his YouTube.
Frankie Lucena shared his images on Flickr, the place you’ll be able to view the complete decision of the pictures your self for a very good take a look at what upside-down lightning appears to be like like. Whereas these uncommon gigantic jets will not be a well-recognized sight, they’re most often reported in tropical areas, a research revealed in Science Advances explains.
However it is a pure phenomenon that we’ve solely identified about for 20 years, so the data we’ve on them remains to be younger, and scientists will undoubtedly uncover extra as they will research these lovely and shocking occasions extra. Prior to now, we’ve seen record-breaking lightning storms come from different pure disasters, too.
It’s potential we’ll see extra images of this unusual phenomenon as we transfer into hurricane season, and see extra storms like Hurricane Franklin forming over the oceans. Sadly, these lovely sights don’t negate the harm accomplished by these storms, particularly in the event that they make landfall in densely populated areas.
