We’ve all seen the flashes of lightning and heard the rumbles of thunder during a summertime thunderstorm in Virginia, but can you imagine a lightning bolt traveling nearly 500 miles?
That’s exactly what happened on April 29, 2020, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The flash covered a horizontal distance of 477 miles from Texas to Mississippi.
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For perspective, that’s the same distance as if you drove southwest from Roanoke to Birmingham, Alabama!
The WMO also confirmed a new record for the greatest duration of a single flash of lightning. That bolt was 17 seconds long and happened in Uruguay and northern Argentina on June 18, 2020.
The WMO Committee on Weather and Climate Extremes used the latest satellite technology to confirm these records.