GOES East (GOES-16) data used to document the longest single lightning flash on record which occurred across southern Brazil in October 2018. Longest lightning bolt on record stretched for 709km. For other inquiries, Contact Us. These long flashes have come to be known as “megaflashes” and are lightning discharges that reach more than 50 miles in length. Does thunder and lightning bother you? A lightning bolt stretched more than 700km across Argentina and Brazil. Fresh analysis from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has now given it the world's longest lightning bolt to be recorded title. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. This flash lit up the sky over northern Argentina for almost 17 seconds in March 2019. That is equivalent to the distance between Boston and Washington DC in the United States, or between London and Basel, Switzerland, the World Meteorological Organization said in a statement. The World Meteorological Organization, or WMO, investigates and certifies meteorological records. Updated Jun 27, 2020 | 15:22 IST A single flash of lightning that cut across the sky for more than 700 kilometres in Brazil in October 2018 is the longest lightning bolt on record, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Thursday. This lightning bolt was photographed over Hanoi on May 13, 2020. News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. What is the longest lightning bolt? Let us know in the comments... We pay for your stories! (Credit: NOAA) The World Meteorological Organization, or WMO, investigates and certifies meteorological records. The single flash occurred on Oct. 31, 2018 and covered a horizontal distance of 440.6 miles, plus or minus 5 miles, across parts of southern Brazil. The world records for the longest lightning bolt and longest-lasting lightning flash have both been smashed. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. 30 Jun 2020, 10:34; Updated: 30 Jun 2020, 11:29; AN EPIC lightning flash over Brazil has just been labelled as the single longest lightning bolt ever recorded. Updated Jun 27, 2020 | 15:22 IST A single flash of lightning that cut across the sky for more than 700 kilometres in Brazil in October 2018 is the longest lightning bolt on record, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Thursday. The study also found a lightning bolt which broke the record for longest duration. The mega bolt actually occurred back in 2018 on Halloween. At 440-mile-long (709km), it was so big it could connect Chicago with Toronto. Are the jet stream and tornadoes related? ‘Megaflash’: 700km-long lightning bolt sets new global record, WMO confirms. The UN's weather agency announced Thursday the longest lightning bolt on record - a single flash in Brazil on October 31, 2018 that cut the sky across more than 700 kilometres. Saumya Agrawal . 28/06/2020. The space-based instruments also provide near-global coverage of lightning flashes. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. The WMO committee also certified a new record for the greatest duration for a single lightning flash: 16.73 seconds over northern Argentina on March 4, 2019. New satellite technology measures both longest distance and longest duration for single flashes Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? On Friday, a WMO committee of experts confirmed a new world record for the longest single lightning flash. On Friday, a WMO committee of experts confirmed a new world record for the longest single lightning flash. Comments are subject to our community guidelines, which can be viewed, , Digital Technology and Science Reporter, The lightning bolt was picked up on this satellite image, This is another lightning bolt captured over Brazil, This WMO map shows the lightning strike in the upper right corner, the bottom left strike is the lightning that broke the longest duration record, Plane en route to Heathrow hit with THREE bolts of lightning over London, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Lightning is a big flash or bolt of electricity caused by a thunderstorm, They're thought to kill between 75 to 100 unlucky souls every year, Strikes are actually formed by frozen raindrops in the sky, Within a thunderclap, bits of ice bump into one another, forming an electrical charge, After a while, the whole cloud fills up with electrical charges, These split into negatively charged electrons at the bottom of the cloud and positively charged protons at the top, Eventually, the cloud discharges by sending a bolt of current to the ground. 28/06/2020. "Environmental extremes are living measurements of what nature is capable, as well as scientific progress in being able to make such assessments. World's Longest Lightning Bolt Traveled Almost 200 Miles Lightning bolts can be seen during a thunderstorm near Rottweil, Germany, 10 September 2016. And, over 1,000 tons of plastic is raining down on the Western US each year, according to concerned scientists. Tweet; Facebook; Mail; A lightning flash that stretched … South America sees a lot of lightning because it tends to strike in highly humid areas. Professor Randall Cerveny, chief rapporteur of Weather and Climate Extremes for WMO, said: "These are extraordinary records from single lightning flash events. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. ‘Megaflash’: 700km-long lightning bolt sets new global record, WMO confirms. New satellite observations to study lightning were used to help validate the new record. This new record for the longest detected distance for a single lightning flash smashes the previous record of 199.5 miles, which occurred on June 20, 2007 across Oklahoma. How does carbon dioxide affect global warming. The National Weather Service advocates the simple rule: “When thunder roars, go indoors!”. However, the WMO thinks it's because the technology we use to measure them is getting better. "This will provide valuable information for establishing limits to the scale of lightning – including megaflashes - for engineering, safety and scientific concerns.". (World Meteorological Organisation) The WMO also announced a new record for the lightning flash with the greatest duration . This was a 200-mile-long lightning bolt that lit up the sky over Oklahoma in 2007. In a single flash, the lightening reportedly covered 435 miles distance above the ground. New satellite technology measures both longest distance and longest duration for single flashes New satellite technology was used to compare the epic 2018 flash to the previous record holder. It is these new satellite technologies that enable the observation and study of these long-lived lightning events, which previously could not be measured. Dan Satherley The world records for the longest lightning bolt and longest-lasting lightning flash have both been smashed. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. By Nick Pearson. This is considered the longest lightning ever recorded in human history. Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The Arctic is thought to have recorded its highest temperature ever of 38C. 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