Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Weather inquiry - Why is Lake Maracaibo called the place with the most lightning in the world?

Why is Lake Maracaibo called the place with the most lightning in the world?

Because it thunders 300,000 times a year, Lake Maracaibo is the largest lake in South America. It is not only the place with the most lightning in the world, but also famous for its rich oil resources.

Lake Maracaibo is a saltwater lake near the equator. It is hot and rainy all the year round, and the complicated terrain makes it the place with the most lightning in the world. The lightning in Lake Maracaibo is unique in the world. It's also called katatumbo lightning. Because lightning mainly occurs at the intersection of Lake Maracaibo and Catatumbo River. Because it generates at least 150 nights of lightning every year, and this arc is very long, up to 5000 meters.

The duration of lightning sometimes exceeds 10 hour. Some people have observed an average of 280 lightning flashes per hour and 300,000 lightning flashes per year. Therefore, Lake Maracaibo is also called "Lightning Lake". Lake Maracaibo is located in the Andes of South America. Due to the geographical location, it is often hot and humid here, which is conducive to night storms. According to this study, Lake Maracaibo has an average of 297 night storms every year, and September is the peak of storms that cause lightning.

Lake Maracaibo has always been famous for its active lightning activity. Every square kilometer of Lake Maracaibo, about 233 lightning strikes are detected every year. Bohu Lake in Malacca has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records and has become a lightning hotspot on the earth. The number of lightning strikes is amazing. At the height of the storm, there were 28 flashes of lightning on the lake every minute. These amazing lightning scenes attracted people from all over the country to watch, making Lake Maracaibo a tourist attraction and very popular.