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+--- Thread: WMO certifies megaflash lightning record in USA (/showthread.php?tid=4104)
WMO certifies megaflash lightning record in USA - Art_Brown - 2025-08-01
31 July 2025
"The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has established a new world record for the longest lightning flash – an incredible 829 km (515 miles) in a notorious storm hotspot in the United States of America."
"The megaflash occurred in October 2017, during a major thunderstorm complex. It extended from eastern Texas to near Kansas City - equivalent to the distance between Paris and Venice in Europe."
The original article can be read here: https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-certifies-megaflash-lightning-record-usa
Enjoy!
Update:
Original publication introduction:
"Lightning is viewed as a localized hazard to the general public, with safety guidance implying
being close enough to the thunderstorm to hear or see lightning (Cooper, 2012). Lightning
“megaflashes” (Lyons et al. 2019) challenge this view as single continuous long horizontal
flashes that extend for hundreds of kilometers through the clouds, initiating up to hundreds of
Cloud-to-Ground (CG) strokes along their paths. Moreover, megaflashes occur in regions of
organized storm systems that might seem inactive with 30 minutes or longer passing between
flashes (Peterson and Stano 2021). They are also known to produce noteworthy effects –
including potentially damaging high peak current CG strokes with continuing current, and
dazzling sprites above the cloud-top."
PDF can be downloaded here:
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/aop/BAMS-D-25-0037.1/BAMS-D-25-0037.1.xml