UNDATED (AP)- A bolt of lightning that stretched nearly 500 miles across three states is the new record holder for longest flash. The World Meteorological Organization on Monday (Jan. 31, 2022) announced that a single bolt in 2020 stretched for 477 miles across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. A few months later, a lightning megaflash in Uruguay and Argentina lasted 17 seconds, beating the old record for longest time. Both flashes were cloud-to-cloud so no one was in danger. They were spotted by satellite. Normally, lightning flashes last less than a second and don’t stretch more than 10 miles.
Image is a screenshot of the NOAA video of the 477 mile long lightning bolt.
Image credit National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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