Record lightning bolt stretched 763 kms across the sky

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has recorded a single bolt of lightning that stretched 763 kms across the sky.

The world record flash crossed three US states in April 2020, crossing Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi beating the previous record of 704 kms that crossed Uruguay into Northern Argentina earlier in the year.

The flash lasted 17.1 seconds beating the previous record of 16.7 seconds.

Both regions are amongst the few places in the world prone to the type of intense storms that can produce what are called “megaflashes”, said Randall Cerveny of Arizona State University, Head of Records Confirmation for the WMO.

Cervney added that lightning does not usually stretch further than 16 kms and usually lasts less than a second.

“These two lightning flash records are absolutely extraordinary,” he said.

He continued saying that both were cloud-to-cloud happening several hundred metres above the ground, so no one was in danger.

Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves. That can cause an instantaneous release of energy at an average of one gigajoule. Lightning occurs commonly during thunderstorms as well as other types of energetic weather systems, but volcanic lightning can also occur during volcanic eruptions.

The three main kinds of lightning are distinguished by where they occur: either inside a single thundercloud, between two different clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.

Neither of the record lightning bolts has been linked to climate change, being spotted and confirmed thanks to new satellite tracking technology.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.