I am honestly shocked.
If you were to ask me how long the world record lightning bolt was I might say 30 or 40 miles.
I would be WAY off. 👇
515 miles!
Across three different states, from Texas to Missouri.
The 2017 'megaflash' stretched from eastern Texas to near Kansas City — a distance that would take at least eight hours by car or 90 minutes by commercial plane, according to the World Meteorological Organization. In comparison, the average bolt of lightning usually measures less than 10 miles, according to the National Weather Service.
It took 8 years to confirm that this lightning bolt was, indeed, a world record, but it's only been ten years since the megaflashes have been able to be identified and measured, according to the World Meteorological Organization and Arizona State University professor Randall Cerveny.
Megaflashes are not altogether uncommon, but they typically only occur in parts of the world where specific geographical and atmospheric conditions can produce the most severe thunderstorms, Cerveny said. In the Great Plains and across the Midwest, for instance, warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with drier, colder air from the north, creating strong atmospheric instability.
Here's the map:
Yes, the bolt spanned the entire width of Oklahoma and reached into Texas and Missouri.
More about the find:
That is one heck of a bolt of lightning!
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