How long is the longest lightning bolt in the world? 768 kilometers! Equivalent to traveling from London, UK to Hamburg, Germany

The world's longest lightning bolt - both in distance covered and duration - has been measured from space and confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The relevant paper was published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

One of the lightning strikes occurred in the southern United States in April 2020, with a length of approximately 768 kilometers, equivalent to the distance from London to Hamburg, Germany. It is 60 kilometers longer than the record set by Brazil in 2018, and is the first recorded lightning strike. The longest lightning ever.

The second lightning strike was measured in June 2020. It straddled the Uruguay-Argentina border and lasted 17 seconds, making it the longest lightning strike ever detected.

"We now have clear evidence that a single lightning strike can last 17 seconds," said Randall Cerveny of Arizona State University. "This is very important to scientists because it improves our understanding of lightning dynamics." Learn to understand: how lightning occurs, where it occurs, and more importantly, why it occurs the way it does."

Two lightning strikes occurred in the Great Plains of North America and in La Pula, South America. Thunderstorm hotspots in the Tower Basin. The geography of these areas makes them prone to the formation of relatively large convective systems, which can cause individual thunderstorms to merge into large-scale weather systems that can trigger extreme lightning strikes.

This lightning strike across the southern United States was difficult to measure with traditional ground-based equipment, so meteorologists turned to lightning mappers on geostationary satellites, which give them a wider view.

"We have only had this type of lightning detection and mapping equipment installed and used in orbit for a few years, and through it we are learning a lot more about super lightning," Cerveny said.

Although these two lightning strikes were detected in 2020, it was not until now that WMO determined that these two lightning strikes were the longest distance and longest duration on record.

Graeme Marlton of the British Meteorological Office said that before these lightnings were recognized as world records, a long process required repeated inspections of instruments, cross-checking observations and verification by expert groups.

Both of these lightning strikes occurred in 2020, which seems to indicate that lightning is becoming more extreme, but it may also be due to improved imaging capabilities that these two records were broken recently. "Only after several years have the extreme events been recorded can we assess whether they are becoming more common," Marlton said. However, climate change does appear to be increasing the frequency of lightning on Earth.

"Although the measured lightning bolts did not make contact with the ground, their length and duration are still an important reminder of how far lightning can strike from its origin," Cerveny said. Whenever you hear thunder, you should find a safe place to avoid lightning, such as a sturdy building or a car with a fully enclosed metal roof.

Comprehensive: China Science News, Science Network