A second lightning bolt that will go down in the books is one that traveled a horizontal distance of 768 kilometers – roughly the distance between London and Hamburg.

Climate change leads to more extreme weather. And so we also see more and more intense thunderstorms, with bizarre lightnings. It happened again in 2020. And two mega lightnings that gave an appearance at the time, have now even made history.

17 second lightning bolt

On June 18, 2020, a ferocious thunderstorm developed over Uruguay and northern Argentina. During the storm, a bizarre flash of lightning appeared in the sky, which lasted no less than 17.102 seconds. It’s a world record. The sky has never lit up for so long. The lightning bolt this time knocks the previous record holder from the throne, who was in the name of a lightning bolt that illuminated parts over Argentina for 16.73 seconds in 2018.

Longest horizontal distance

On April 29, 2020, things went wild over the southern states of the United States. And during the thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning appeared, covering a horizontal distance of 768 kilometers – roughly the distance between the English capital London and the German city of Hamburg. Not surprisingly, this flash of lightning has also made it into the books. Because with this distance, the lightning bolt shatters the previous record of 709 kilometers and is therefore no less than sixty kilometers longer.

Record-breaking lightning bolts

It means that two records have been broken in one year. And how. “These are extraordinary records of single lightning bolts,” said researcher Randall Cerveny. Anyone who thinks that these new records will be difficult to break is wrong. “It’s likely that there are even greater extremes,” Cerveny continues. “And that’s what we’re going to observe as lightning detection technology improves.”

Dangerous

While lightning can be beautiful and impressive, it’s also important to remember that these tumultuous weather phenomena pose great danger, claiming many lives each year. In an extreme case, a single bolt of lightning even killed 21 people huddled in a hut in Zimbabwe for shelter. In the Egyptian city of Derenkah, 469 people were killed when lightning struck a series of oil tanks, causing burning oil to engulf the city.

Although the chance of being struck by lightning is quite small, it should not be underestimated. In South Africa, for example, more than 250 people are killed by lightning every year. Worldwide, a lightning strike kills about 24,000 people every year.

The researchers therefore emphasize that it is important to find a safe place if you unexpectedly find yourself in a thunderstorm. “Any time you hear thunder, you should go to a lightning-safe place,” notes lightning specialist Ron Holle.

Find a safe place

The only lightning-proof locations are large, sturdy buildings – no structures like a bus shelter – or a fully enclosed metal-roofed vehicle – so no dune buggies or motorcycles. If you count less than ten seconds, the lightning is dangerously close and you will need to find a lightning safe place. “Lightning can travel great distances in seconds,” says Holle. “However, they are often part of larger thunderstorms, so be on the lookout for them.”

Fortunately, nowadays we have increasingly better equipment to monitor and map thunderstorms and lightning bolts. Not only is this beneficial for our safety, we are also starting to understand these surprisingly elusive and complex natural phenomena and the impact they have on our daily lives. “We now have excellent measurements of its many facets,” said Michael Peterson, study leader of the study in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society published study. “As a result, we are unlocking more and more aspects of his behavior. However, there is still a lot we don’t know. It is therefore an exciting field of research in which we are learning more and more about what lightning is capable of.”