World Record: Longest ‘Mega-Flash’ Lightning Streaks Across the Sky

Quick Summary:

• A lightning “mega-flash” over the US Great Plains has been recognized as the longest flash of lightning ever recorded, spanning 829 kilometers across five states from eastern Texas to Missouri.
• The flash occurred in October 2017 adn lasted over seven seconds but was too extensive for ground-based sensors at the time.
• Data revisited using geostationary satellite images and advanced software revealed its full extent; mapping traced the zigzagging branches and showed a total length exceeding 1000 kilometers.
• The World Meteorological Organization certified this record-breaking event, exceeding the previous record by approximately 61 kilometers.
• Mega-flashes typically occur in large clusters of thunderstorms like those found over lightning hotspots such as the US Great Plains but remain poorly understood.

!Lightning flashes during a monsoon storm in the US)
Lightning flashes during a monsoon storm in the US. Credit: Edward Mitchell/WMO

!Zigzagging branches of the longest flash on record
Zigzagging branches of the longest flash on record. Credit: Michael Peterson/GTRI

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