The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption on January 15, 2022, has set a new record for the greatest concentration of lightning ever detected. According to data from Vaisala’s Global Lightning Dataset GLD360, nearly 400 000 lightning events were detected within just six hours of the eruption, making it a truly exceptional phenomenon.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has verified 2 new world records for extreme megaflashes of lightning. The first is for the longest distance single flash of 768 ± 8 km (477.2 ± 5 miles) across the southern U.S. on April 29, 2020. This is 60…
A 16-second flash of lightning in Argentina on March 4, 2019, and a 700 km (435 miles) bolt in Brazil on October 31, 2018, set new records for the greatest lightning duration and longest bolt ever, respectively, according to the World Meteorological Organization…
