'Super lightning' nearly 770km long recognized world record

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on January 31 officially confirmed two records for the longest single lightning and the longest lasting lightning.

According to CNN, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) officially recognized the "super lightning" that appeared in the North American sky on April 29, 2020 with a record length so far. It extends about 768km from Texas to Louisiana in the United States.

Before that, the record belonged to a ray of light that appeared in October 2018 in the south of Brazil.

"Super lightning" is a very, very large flash. Lightning in storms is usually only a few kilometers long. 'Super lightning' can be up to hundreds of kilometers," said Randall Cerveny, an expert on extreme weather events. of WMO, said.

Despite breaking the record for length, the aforementioned lightning has a shorter "life" than another "super lightning" in South America.

The longest lightning bolt appeared in North America in 2020.

Another record recognized by WMO on the same day is the world's longest-lived lightning. It appeared on October 31, 2018 during a storm over Uruguay and northern Paraguay, lasting 17.102 seconds. This time period is 0.37 seconds longer than the previous record, set on March 4, 2019 in northern Argentina.

Previously, lightning data was recorded on the basis of a ground-based data collection network. However, this technology has many limitations.

Scientists are now using a new technology called "Geostationary Lightning Mapping", thanks to the operation of satellites in orbit, to collect data of lightning bolts around the globe. Thanks to that, more and more "super lightning" were recorded.

New technology enables scientists to observe previously elusive aspects of weather phenomena.