From within, lightning conspired with external twilight to illuminate a blue-hour thunderhead in western Kansas, near “Weskan” of course. Here, a downburst descended from the backside, hit ground and took off horizontally, forming a rain foot through which the bottom of the left flash penetrated. Though the preceding step leader travels faster than wind, it can be blown, and the leftward-tilted character of these flashes indicate at least a minor component from wind-driven redirection. We’re only seeing this in two dimensions, so the actual horizontal displacement of the flashes—especially the one to the right—likely is farther than it appears (toward the observer).
4 W Sharon Springs KS (4 Jun 22) Looking SE
38.9011, -101.8239