It's not quite the righttime to debunk that myth about lightning never striking the same place twice, as an enormous bolt has set a new global record.
The longest single flash of lightning has been captured by satellites of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, recorded and announced by the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization on Tuesday.
The "megaflash" stretched 768 kilometres (give or take 8 kilometres) or 477.2 miles (give or take 5 miles) across parts of the southern U.S. including Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi on April 29, 2020.
Satellite image of the lightning flash over the southern United States on Apr. 29, 2020.Credit: WMOThe flash in question measures as long as the distance between New York City and Columbus, Ohio. Or if you want another, between London and Hamburg.
Tweet may have been deleted
The previous record was 60 kilometres shorter, recorded across the sky in southern Brazil on (fittingly) Halloween in 2018.
It's actually one of two records broken, with the greatest duration for a single lightning flash of 17.102 seconds (give or take 0.002 seconds) recorded in thunderstorm over Uruguay and northern Argentina on June 18, 2020. This lengthy flash broke the previous record by a mere 0.37 seconds, also measured over northern Argentina on March 4, 2019.
Count out 17 seconds right now, I'll wait.
Satellite image of the lightning flash over Uruguay and Argentina on June 18, 2020.Credit: WMOThe new records were captured by NOAA's latest GOES-16/17 satellites which use geostationary lightning mappers (GLMs) to monitor extreme lightning continuously over the western hemisphere up to 55⁰ latitude.
SEE ALSO:The essential thing to know about NASA and NOAA's global warming newsThe findings were published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society on Tuesday by the WMO's Committee on Weather and Climate Extremes, which keeps the organisation's records of global extremes associated with different weather types.
"These extremely large and long-duration lightning events were not isolated but happened during active thunderstorms," committee member Ron Holle said in a press statement. "Any time there is thunder heard it is time to reach a lightning-safe place.”
If the WMO isn't cranking up AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" today, they're doing it wrong.
(责任编辑：百科)
Australian football makes history with first LGBT Pride Game
Live fiery crossbow fail almost brought disaster to 'America's Got Talent'
Did Bob Costas really chug that beer that time? An investigation
Ice cream floating on cotton candy clouds is not a dreamChinese gymnastics team horrifies crowd with human jump ropeAustralian football makes history with first LGBT Pride Game
The rainbow flag took over Melbourne's Etihad Stadium Saturday night in a powerful statement of acce
...[详细]Apple introduces its first security bounty program
Apple is launching its first security bounty. The news comes on the heels of a presentation from App
...[详细]Kim Kardashian still doesn't consider herself a feminist
Despite her belief in body positivity and supporting other women in business, Kim Kardashian West is
...[详细]The $17,000 chopsticks you'll take home after your $2 million dinner
SINGAPORE -- If you're shelling out $2 million for a meal, you'll want to make sure you're getting y
...[详细]Singapore gets world's first driverless taxis
SINGAPORE -- The world's first self-driving taxis started picking up passengers in Singapore on Thur
...[详细]Hey Australia: It's alright if you want to stand up and be counted as a Jedi
Who would have thought the universe's greatest attempt to stamp out followers of the Force -- well,
...[详细]Google Maps app turns learning into a game with a monster as your avatar
Google is great when it comes to helping users harness its data to learn about our world, but a new
...[详细]Amazon reveals more details about Woody Allen's new series
BEVERLY HILLS, California -- That Woody Allen series is finally coming to Amazon in September, the s
...[详细]Old lady swatting at a cat ends up in Photoshop battle
We all have that relative who gets annoyed with the cat.。This timeless photo of an old woman shooing
...[详细]Here's how much Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 will cost
Samsung's impressive new Galaxy Note 7 doesn't launch until Aug. 19, but pre-orders begin today.In t
...[详细]Twitter grants everyone access to quality filter for tweet notifications
*NSYNC reunites to celebrate JC Chasez's birthday
