Lightning Strike Sets New Record for Longest Ever Measured
Megaflash Lightning of 515 miles sets a new world record
A lighting flash that extends from eastern Texas in an area near Kansas City in 2017 is officially the longest shot of lightning ever measured, according to the world meteorological organization
Photographer based at Utah Ryan Houston
Guinness World Records can be the essential organization to measure the extent of human success (sometimes doubtful), but for natural phenomena, the World Meteorological Organization Committee (WMO) on the weather and the extreme climate establishes the bar. Recently, the Committee certified a new record: the longest shot of lightning ever measured. The Bolt, which materialized a stormy day in October 2017, lasted a total of 515 miles from eastern Texas to an area near Kansas City.
When a potentially record meteorological event occurs, it is transmitted to the committee, where a panel of scientists and other experts assesses if the event really represents a new record. If the panel votes to approve it, the file is registered in the WMOs Météorological and climatic conditions archive. Michael Peterson, an atmospheric scientist at the Severe Storms Research Center of the Georgia Tech Research Institute, reported the new record record last year while reanalyzing the 2017 satellite data. The recording of these extreme meteorological events can help us to develop new tools to predict serious storms and understand their behavior, he says.
The previous record holder, a flash measuring 477 miles that struck during a storm in 2020, is also from Texas. It is not a coincidence, says Peterson. In the United States, the large plains of the South Center represent one of the rare hotspots in the world for the giant complexes of thunderstorms in which these super-long “megaflas” are most likely to occur. These complexes arise when many smaller storms merge into a single large system and no break; The 2017 complex took place from Texas to Minnesota.
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Find out more: How to stay safe during lightning storms
MEGAFLASHs often produce clouds on earth over their length. In fact, said Peterson, the 2017 flash produced more than 116 subsidiary strikes during the seven seconds it lasted, from start to finish. A typical lightning of lightning is visible for about half a second; The most sustainable strike record has recorded more than 17 seconds. Strikes are measured using a combination of satellite technology and lightning lightning mapping networks – sensor networks that record radio signals produced by lightning.
This lightning record card shows its development over time. The circles represent cloud on the ground and are colored by the polarity.
With increasingly powerful and precise technology, Peterson and his colleagues are starting to get better data on these storms to understand exactly what makes them vibrate. For example, says Peterson, researchers are investigating unusual, particularly powerful forms of lightning and those whose load lasts for a long time (that is to say a few hundred milliseconds) in the ground after their strike. “It’s a very exciting moment to be in the science of lightning,” he says.
