770km megaflash in US sets new lightning record

A video screengrab of a satellite image showing a thunderstorm and the flash of lightning on April 29, 2020, which set a new world record for the longest detected megaflash. It was measured in the southern part of the United States and stretched a full 768km across Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, said the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation.

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GENEVA • A single flash of lightning in the US nearly two years ago cut across the sky for nearly 770km, setting a new world record, said the United Nations.

The new record for the longest detected megaflash, measured in the southern part of the United States on April 29, 2020, stretched a full 768km across the states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

That is equivalent to the distance between New York City and Columbus, Ohio, or between London and the German city of Hamburg, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said.

That lightning bolt zig-zagged some 60km further than the previous record, set in southern Brazil on Oct 31, 2018.