**** Info via Environment Canada
Megaflash Records
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has officially confirmed two new world records of lightning megaflashes in North and South America.
On 29 April 2020, the longest single flash ever recorded covered a horizontal distance of approximately 768 km between Victoria, Texas and Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the southern United States. This is roughly the equivalent of the distance between Calgary in Alberta and Regina in Saskatchewan!
On 18 June 2020, the longest duration ever recorded for a single lightning flash lasted about 17.102 seconds from the flash that developed continuously through a thunderstorm over Uruguay and northern Argentina. This is very impressive considering the average duration of a lightning flash is about 30 microseconds!
The WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes certifies our planet’s extreme weather records. They also maintain official records for extreme temperatures, pressure, rainfall, hail, wind, lightning, as well as tornadoes and tropical cyclones.
Other recognized WMO lightning extremes are:
- Direct strike: 21 people were killed by a single flash of lightning as they huddled for safety in a hut in Zimbabwe in 1975.
- Indirect strike: 469 people were killed in Dronka, Egypt when lightning struck a set of oil tanks, causing burning oil to flood the town in 1994.
As always with lightning, it is important to remember: When thunder roars, go indoors!
For more on Lightning safety.
