Lightning Over Torres, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

July 30, 2018

Lightning_34796227_1549793888476843_8441566334034116608_o (3)

Photographer: Gabriel Zaparolli
Summary Authors: Gabriel Zaparolli; Jim Foster

July 2018 Viewer's ChoiceThis photo shows a distant lightning storm and asperitas clouds looming over the outskirts of Torres, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, as observed during the evening of June 10, 2018. On this long-exposure image it seems that most of the lightning consisted of cloud-to-ground strokes. Asperitas form in convective storms when the air in downdrafts (cooled by the sublimation of ice crystals) pushes through the cloud base.