The World Meteorological Organisation, WMO, has conformed a new world record for the longest lightning bolt, set in the United States.
The new record, 829 kilometres, was set in the Great Plains region of the United States. It was observed on 22 October 2017 during a significant thunderstorm event. Stretching from eastern Texas to near Kansas City, it covered a distance comparable to that between the European cities of Paris and Venice, the WMO stated.
An 11-member committee with experts from the United States, Brazil, Germany, Israel, Nepal, and Spain certified the new record.
The previous record, measuring 768 kilometres, was also set in the United States. That bolt stretched from Mississippi to Texas on 29 April 2020, and was certified in 2022.
Lightning-bolt records have a margin of error of plus or minus 8 kilometres.
The lightning bolt recognised on Thursday was not identified at the initial analysis of the 2017 storm but was discovered during a subsequent reassessment, the WMO explained.
