The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a United Nations agency, recently announced that a lightning strike in the United States a few years ago extended a distance of 515 miles (829 kilometers), breaking the world record for the longest lightning strike.
According to a press release issued by WMO on July 31, this lightning strike occurred in a severe thunderstorm in October 2017, stretching from eastern Texas to Kansas City, equivalent to the distance between Paris, France, and Venice, Italy, or an eight to nine-hour drive.
With the assistance of the latest satellite technology, the organization confirmed that this lightning strike broke the previous world record by 61 kilometers. The previous record was also set in the southern United States in April 2020.
The lightning strike that set this new record was not initially detected in the analysis of the storm in 2017, but researchers later discovered it upon reexamining the storm.
Randall Cerveny, WMO Rapporteur of Weather and Climate Extremes and Professor of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, stated that this new record clearly demonstrates the incredible power of the natural environment. Additionally, WMO’s assessment of extreme environmental events like this lightning strike record showcases significant scientific progress in observing, recording, and evaluating such events.
Cerveny remarked, “Even more extreme events are likely still out there. With more high-quality lightning measurement data accumulating over time, we will be able to observe them.”
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo emphasized that lightning is not only awe-inspiring but also a significant hazard, claiming many lives globally each year. Therefore, it is a priority under the international “Early Warnings for All” initiative.
She noted, “These new findings underscore the critical concerns of the general public regarding the safety of electrified clouds, as they can produce lightning that travels far, posing significant impacts on the aviation industry and potentially sparking wildfires.”
Regarding the megaflash lightning that set the new record, Cerveny stated in a press release from Arizona State University, “We are calling it ‘megaflash,’ and we are in the process of clarifying the reasons and mechanisms behind its occurrence.”
Most lightning strikes extend within 10 miles (16 kilometers). When a lightning strike exceeds 60 miles (specifically 100 kilometers), it is categorized as a “megaflash.”
Based on the analysis of satellite observation data by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, less than 1% of thunderstorms produce megaflashes. Michael Peterson, a leading author of this study, conducted the analysis.
Megaflashes result from long-duration storms, typically brewing for over 14 hours, with a vast scale covering an area equivalent to the size of New Jersey. These lightning strikes usually emit five to seven forks that hit the ground along a path horizontally traversing the sky.
Cerveny mentioned that while megaflashes extending hundreds of miles are rare, it is not uncommon for lightning strikes to occur 10 to 15 miles away from the source of the storm, increasing the risk. People may not realize how far lightning can strike from the origin of a thunderstorm.
In the United States, 20 to 30 people die from lightning strikes annually, with hundreds more injured. Most lightning-related injuries occur before and after a storm reaches its peak intensity, rather than during the most intense part of the storm.
Therefore, Cerveny suggested, “This is why you should wait at least half an hour after a storm before going outside and resuming normal activities. The storm that caused the lightning strike doesn’t have to be directly overhead.”
The findings of the discussed study were published on July 31 in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.