The 2017 Megaflash: The World's Longest Lightning

Title Image Provided By: NOAA/Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recently certified a new "megaflash" as the longest in the world. The flash, which stretched from Eastern Texas to Kansas City, MO occurred in October 2017 during a mesoscale convective system. The flash covered 515 miles across a notorious stormy hot spot within the United States. A distance that would normally take eight or nine hours to drive, was covered in mere seconds.

The new record surpasses the previous from a 2020 thunderstorm across the Southern United States. So how did a lightning strike from 2017 somehow come out the blue to beat the 2020 record?

The WMO said this particular flash wasn't identified initially during the 2017 analysis, but was later discovered after re-examination of data.

“This new record clearly demonstrates the incredible power of the natural environment. Additionally, WMO assessment of environmental extremes such as this lightning distance record testify to the significant scientific progress in observing, documenting and evaluating such events. It is likely that even greater extremes still exist, and that we will be able to observe them as additional high-quality lightning measurements accumulate over time,” said Professor Randall Cerveny, rapporteur of Weather and Climate Extremes for WMO.

You can learn more about other Weather and Climate Extremes through the World Meteorological Organizations Archive.