(Source: World Meteorological Organization) It happened on Halloween of 2018, when a system of massive thunderstorms boiled up over southern Brazil and spawned a single bolt stretching across 440 miles, from the Atlantic coast all the way into Argentina. Late last month, the World Meteorological Organization certified it as the longest single lightning flash on record. Longest duration 16.7 seconds, #Argentina, 4.3.2019 The largest lightning discharge in recorded history occurred on Oct. 31, 2018, in southern Brazil, although the flash stretched from eastern Argentina all the way to the Atlantic. Super Typhoon Goni Churns Toward the Philippines as the Globe's Strongest Storm of 2020, Radar Is Revolutionizing the Study of Migrations, but Researchers Need Birdwatchers’ Help. "It is likely that even greater extremes still exist, and that we will be able to observe them as lightning detection technology improves.”. If you are a Zinio, Nook, Kindle, Apple, or Google Play subscriber, you can enter your website access code to gain subscriber access. The new records were more than double the previous records, WMO said. The UN agency has revealed similar weather-related milestones in the past, such as in 2016 a record wave measurement of a behemoth that towered 19 metres (62.3 feet) above the North Atlantic. (Credit: Vortex II. The quirky weather records are stored in the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes. One of them is for the most people killed by a single direct strike of lightning. Verified with new satellite lightning imagery technology pic.twitter.com/DfG9NUrjEl. The massive overhanging anvils and raining regions of these monsters have large electrified clouds with low flash rates, which allows charges to build up significantly. WMO has recognized 2 new world records for a single #lightning #megaflash The flash had cut across the sky for 709 kilometres in Brazil on October 31, 2018.  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images, Plane en route to Heathrow airport gets stuck with three bolts of lightning, video goes viral [WATCH], Rare double 'lightning rainbows' illuminate UK skies - See pictures, Mustard Fish Curry Recipe | How to Make Mustard Fish Curry | Bengali Fish Curry | The Foodie, Naya Kashmir votes; Is Congress & Owaisi in one team? WMO’s Committee on Weather and Climate Extremes also announced a new record for longest duration flash: 16.73 seconds from a flash that developed over northern Argentina on March 4, 2019. The first of a new generation, GOES-16 carries an instrument that continuously maps all lightning activity across North and South America. DOUBLE the previous records GLM far exceeds the capabilities of its predecessors, they say. Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. Most lightning — like this flash over Texas in 2009 — is impressive enough. Imagine a lightning bolt igniting in a giant thunderstorm over San Diego and then shooting north almost all the way to San Francisco. | The Newshour Debate, KT Rama Rao on GHCP, illegal encroachments, AIMIM-TRS friendship & more | Frankly Speaking, Will the demands of Annadatas be fulfilled? 2011 Supercells are powerful thunderstorms which form around a mesocyclone, a deep, rotating updraft. If that seems impossible, consider that just such a prodigious lightning flash has now been confirmed — not in SoCal but in South America. The WHO hailed recent technological advancements in the space-based lightning mapping that allow for measuring "flash extent and duration continuously over broad geo-spatial domains.". As many as 469 people had died in the incident. Data from the instrument help with forecasting of severe storms and potentially damaging phenomena such as hailstorms, microburst winds, tornadoes, and hurricanes. "This makes the GOES-16 GLM an excellent platform for documenting extreme lightning," scientists concluded in a recent paper on the record-setting flashes. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper, or GLM, aboard the satellite detects light emitted by lightning at the tops of clouds, during both night and day. In each case, they were the product of a gigantic collection of thunderstorms acting as a single system — a phenomenon meteorologists call a "Mesoscale Convective System," or MCS. Photographer: Sean Waugh NOAA/NSSL. The archive has two other lightning-related extremes. Save up to 70% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine. It happened on Halloween of 2018, when a system of massive thunderstorms boiled up over southern Brazil and spawned a single bolt stretching across 440 miles, from the Atlantic coast all the way into Argentina. How We Know What’s Deep Inside the Earth, Despite Never Traveling There, Why Scientists Are So Worried About Antarctica's Doomsday Glacier, Parrots Live in New York City. At up to several kilometres across, they can last several hours, making them the longest-lasting and largest of all thunderstorms. Get unlimited access when you subscribe. As many as 21 people died in Zimbabwe in 1975 when rushed for safety to a hut that was hit by the bolt. What's It Like to Simulate the Next Cascades Volcanic Eruption? ), Satellite image showing the record extent of a lightning flash over Brazil October 31, 2018. This far surpasses the previous record of 199.5 miles, set by a flash on June 20, 2007 over Oklahoma. The new measurements reveal "extraordinary records from single lightning flash events," Randall Cerveny, the chief rapporteur in the WMO expert committee, said. Longest distance: 709 km (440.6 miles), #Brazil, 31.10.2018 It occurs over and around Lake Maracaibo, typically over a bog area formed where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake. | The Urban Debate, Know about the average calories and nutrition facts in dosa, Pune: Oxford University vaccine 90% effective, Government Job Recruitment Exam racket busted, Pune: No social distancing during protests, Bakhtawar Bhutto gets engaged to Mahmood Chaudhary [PICS], Shillong Teer 27.11.2020 1st and 2nd round result announced, Amrik Sukhdev dhaba in Murthal serves free food to farmers, Shillong Teer 28.11.2020 results announced, World's most expensive handbag unveiled. Here’s How They Make It in the Urban Jungle. (Source: World Meteorological Organization), The two record-setting lightning flashes, one over Brazil that's the longest ever documented, and another over Argentina that persisted longer than any observed before.