Longest lightning bolt travelled a staggering 829 km upstaging previous record holder by...
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Longest lightning bolt travelled a staggering 829 km upstaging previous record holder by...")
The longest lightning strike was recorded in the hotspot for bolts. Photograph: (Freepik)
The record for the longest lightning strike was set in 2017 over the Great Plains in a region known as the hotspot for such bolts. The WMO revealed that it travelled such a long distance that it would take a commercial jet 90 minutes to make that trip.
The longest lightning strike was recorded in 2017 in the North American Great Plains, stretching from eastern Texas to near Kansas City. It happened during a major thunderstorm in October, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. The lightning flash that set the new record measures a staggering 829 km. The region is a hotspot for lightning and also holds the previous record for the longest lightning bolt. It is known for creating epic storm clusters and mega lightning flashes. Only two places on Earth can witness a megaflash of this scale. The length of the area it travelled is the same as the distance between Paris and Venice in Europe. If you were to travel 829 km in a car, it would take you eight to nine hours to reach your destination. On a commercial plane, the distance would be covered in at least 90 minutes. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said the international Early Warnings for All initiative prioritises studying lightning bolts since it is not only a "source of wonder but also a major hazard that claims many lives around the world every year." Also Read: Australia smacked by a staggering 1.1 million lightning strikes in one day
Lightning strike that killed people, setting fire to oil tanks
Saulo flagged the public safety concerns generated by "electrified clouds which can produce flashes which travel extremely large distances", as they have the potential to hit flights and spark wildfires. Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs) are responsible for creating megaflash, an incredibly long lightning strike. Huge collections of thunderstorms act as a single system to trigger such lightning strikes. It can continue to remain present in the skies for over 12 hours. Lightning strikes have also set records in other areas. The flash to last the longest was recorded over Uruguay and Argentina, on June 18, 2020, and streaked through for 17.102 seconds. A single lightning flash killed 21 people in a Zimbabwean hut in 1975 and remains the most fatal to date. Lightning strikes can also indirectly trigger catastrophes. One such incident occurred in Dronka, Egypt, in 1994, when several oil tanks caught fire from a lightning strike. The oil, set on fire, flooded the area and burned 469 people to death. Also Read: Klyuchevskaya volcano eruption is not the last. Several more in Ring of Fire will explode, experts warn
Also Read: Mysterious symbols believed to be 'ancient warning from ancestors' surface on Hawaii beach
Great Plains lightning strikes
Only two places in the world are capable of generating lightning of this scale - the Great Plains covering a vast area across central Canada and the US, and the La Plata basin of South America. WMO used the latest satellite technologies to identify the record-breaking lightning bolt. The 2017 flash shoved the current record holder, which interestingly struck after it in 2020. It was also reported over the Great Plains and was a 768-km fork stretching across the southern US. The 2017 bolt was picked up by US Geostationary Lightning Mappers (GLMs) on the R-series Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. Europe's Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Lightning Imager and China's Y-4 Lightning Mapping Imager are the other new tools that help gain clear insights into storms and weather patterns.
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