London: Meteorologists have revealed details of the most extreme lightning bolt ever recorded. Scientists detected a record-breaking lightning bolt that was 321.1 kilometers in length, roughly the distance between New York City and Washington D.C. It streaked across the skies above Oklahoma, US, in 2007. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has officially recognised it as the longest single flash of lightning ever recorded, the Daily Mail reported.
Scientists also recorded a flash of lightning in southern France in 2012 that lasted continuously for 7.74 seconds, the longest duration ever reported.
The WMO have officially added these events to its records of weather extremes, the Mail reported. Both lightning bolts were so prolonged that the WMO has changed its definition of a lightning strike. Originally, it was described as a “series of electrical processes taking place within one second,” but the last three words have now been replaced by “continuously”.
Petteri Taalas, secretary general for the WMO, told the Mail: “Lightning is a major weather hazard that claims many lives each year. Improvements in detecting and monitoring these extreme events will help us improve public safety.”
Randall Cerveny, chief Rapporteur of Climate and Weather Extremes for WMO, said that the investigation highlighted that, because of technological improvements, climate experts can now monitor and detect specific lightning in greater detail than ever before.
Cerveny said the result reinforced the fact that lightning can travel huge distances from their parent thunderstorms.
Lightning strikes about 25 million times a year in the U.S., annually killing an average of 49 people and injuring hundreds more, according to the National Weather Service. So far this year, lightning has killed 35 people in the U.S., which makes 2016 the deadliest year for lightning since 2007, which had 45 lightning-related fatalities. Improved sensing technologies in recent years have allowed for better warning systems and safety protocols, according to the WMO.
