World's Longest Lightning Flash Confirmed Over Texas

Woah! The world's longest lightning strike was confirmed across three U.S. states Monday.

The 477.2-mile flash extended across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in April 2020 and was confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization on Monday (January 31). The lightning flash is the equivalent of the distance between New York City and Columbus, Ohio, the World Meteorological Organization said in a press release. The previous record was set in 2018 for a 440.6-mile lightning strike in Brazil.

The World Meteorological Organization also confirmed a second world record Monday: the greatest duration for a single lightning flash. It occurred for over 17 seconds over Uruguay and northern Argentina in June 2020.

“These are extraordinary records from single lightning flash events. Environmental extremes are living measurements of the power of nature, as well as scientific progress in being able to make such assessments. It is likely that even greater extremes still exist, and that we will be able to observe them as lightning detection technology improves,” Professor Randall Cerveny, rapporteur of Weather and Climate Extremes for WMO, said in a press release.

Cerveny told The Associated Press both lightning flash records were cloud-to-cloud and occurred several thousand feet above the ground, meaning no one was in danger. Cerveny added the "megaflash" and record lightning strike happened in hotspots — the Great Plains and the La Plata basin in South America — where "extraordinary megaflashes" are likely to occur.

They both occurred during active thunderstorms, lightning specialist and National Lightning Safety Council member Ron Holle said in a press release.