Crown flash caught on camera - GIF

Crown flash is a rarely observed meteorological phenomenon caused by the effect of atmospheric electrical fluctuations on the alignment of ice crystals. - Wikipedia

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Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...210#post195837
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...370#post116651
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...433#post215439
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...399#post196656
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...292#post192261

What am I seeing?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ralphxyz

What am I seeing?

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Crown Flash (wikipedia)
It apparently isn't very well understood what causes this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ralphxyz

What am I seeing?

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Clouds have a static charge in relation to the air surrounding them that can vary throughout the cloud. This is a sort of discharge of that from one part of the cloud to another or to the atmosphere, which causes the ice crystals in the cloud to make streams and arcs, like solar flares. Well, not exactly like, but the same sort of idea. That's also why you get lightning within a cloud or from cloud to cloud, but those are on a much larger scale and occur under different circumstances.