It measures more than half of Italy.
In recent years the World Meteorological Organization updated the absolute record for lightning, recording two extraordinary events in the American continent, one in the north and one in the south. On April 29, 2020, the longest lightning bolt ever, of 768 kilometers, was observed, which crossed a vast territory, between Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. A distance that would go from London to Hamburg so to speak. The second event, on the other hand, was detected during a thunderstorm that hit Uruguay and Argentina, on 18 June 2020 and concerns the maximum duration of a single flash of 17.1 second. The enormity of these manifestations of nature leaves us speechless but Randall Cerveny, expert in extreme weather and climatic conditions for the WMO, wanted to better explain the situation:
“Natural events are likely to exist even more extreme than these extremes and we will be able to observe them as lightning detection technology improves.”
According to another research this type of activity would grow in tandem with climate change. The study (from 2014) states that a one-degree Celsius increase in temperatures would increase the frequency of lightning by 12%. Lead author of the report, David Romps, explained:
“To create lightning, a cloud must generate an electric field, which it does using water. The more water a cloud processes, the more lightning we should expect. And the more energy available. for a cloud, the faster it rises, the longer it can keep water droplets and ice particles suspended, so again, the more lightning we should see. “
