The World Meteorological Organization has certified a new world record for the longest lightning strike — 829 kilometers. It occurred in October 2017 during a megathunderstorm in the United States.
This was reported by the WMO press service.
The lightning bolt stretched from east Texas to Kansas City—the equivalent of the distance between Paris and Venice in Europe. It would have taken a car about eight to nine hours to travel that many kilometers.
The record was recorded using modern satellites. This lightning bolt was 61 kilometers longer than the previous record holder. The flash occurred over the Great Plains of North America during a severe thunderstorm, which is capable of generating so-called megaflashes.
“This new record clearly demonstrates the incredible power of the natural environment. Furthermore, WMO’s assessment of extreme environmental events, such as this lightning strike length record, demonstrates significant scientific progress in observing, documenting and assessing such events,” said Professor Randall Cerveny, WMO Rapporteur on Extreme Weather and Climate.
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