A massive lightning ‘megaflash' set a world record — it stretched for a whopping 515 miles
Now, researchers have confirmed that a lightning strike from 2017 has broken a world record.
A single flash of lightning that stretched across the Great Plains, from eastern Texas all the way to Kansas City, Missouri, turned out to be a staggering 515 miles long.
5 The lightning spanned from eastern Texas all the way to Kansas City, Missouri.
Getty Images
A new report in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society documented the new lightning record, which beat the previous title holder, a 477-mile bolt from April 2020.
'We call it megaflash lightning and we're just now figuring out the mechanics of how and why it occurs,' Randy Cerveny, an Arizona State University professor who worked on the study, said in a statement.
Megaflash lightning is defined as a lightning bolt that reaches beyond 62 miles in length. The average lightning bolt measures less than 10 miles long.
Less than 1% of thunderstorms produce megaflash lightning, according to satellite observations analyzed by Michael Peterson at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
Megaflashes come from long-lived storms, typically those that brew for 14 hours or more, and they are massive in size — covering an area comparable to the state of New Jersey in square miles.
Cerveny and his colleagues measured the megaflash, which took place during a major thunderstorm in October 2017, with space-based instruments and a re-examination of satellite observations.
5 A single flash of lightning that stretched across the Great Plains turned out to be a staggering 515 miles long.
Michael Peterson / GTRI
They reviewed data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-16 satellite, which has a lightning mapper that detects about one million lightning bolts per day.
'Our weather satellites carry very exacting lightning detection equipment that we can use [to] document to the millisecond when a lightning flash starts and how far it travels,' Cerveny said.
Lightning detection and measurement relied on ground-based networks of antennas for years. The antennas would detect the radio signals emitted by the lightning to estimate the location and travel speed based on the time it takes the signals to reach other antenna stations.
5 Less than 1 percent of thunderstorms produce megaflash lightning.
Michael Peterson / GTRI
5 Megaflash lightning is defined as a lightning bolt that reaches beyond 60 miles in length.
Michael Peterson / GTRI
'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,' Cerveny, who serves as rapporteur of weather and climate extremes for the World Meteorological Organization, explained.
Satellite-borne lightning detectors that have been in orbit since 2017 have made it possible for scientists to continuously detect lightning and accurately measure it at continental-scale distances.
'Adding continuous measurements from geostationary orbit was a major advance,' Peterson, first author of the report, said in a statement.
5 They reviewed data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-16 satellite, which has a lightning mapper that detects about one million lightning bolts per day.
American Meteorological Society
'We are now at a point where most of the global megaflash hotspots are covered by a geostationary satellite, and data processing techniques have improved to properly represent flashes in the vast quantity of observational data at all scales.'
While megaflashes are rare, Ceverny said that it's not unusual for lightning strikes to reach 10 or 15 miles from the storm cloud it came from, which adds to the danger.
Lightning strikes kill about 20 to 30 people per year in the U.S. and injure hundreds more, and most of these injuries occur before and after the peak of a thunderstorm, not during it.
'That's why you should wait at least half an hour after a thunderstorm passes before you go out and resume normal activities,' Cerveny said. 'The storm that produces a lightning strike doesn't have to be over the top of you.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
4 hours ago
- Newsweek
Alzheimer's: Scientists Reveal Diet That May Stave Off Disease
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. While we know some foods can offer medicinal benefits, it appears one diet in particular can help to reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Sticking to a Mediterranean-style diet may help to slow cognitive decline and ultimately prevent these neurodegenerative diseases, according to scientists at Rush University Medical Center. The researchers measured hippocampal sclerosis (HS)—a severe decline in brain cells and processes in particular areas of the brain linked with dementia and Alzheimer's—in 809 people with available brain autopsies and dietary information. They found those who had been on the 'MIND' diet, which combines elements of the Mediterranean diet with a another called Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), were less likely to have signs of HS in their brains. This suggests being consistent with the MIND diet may reduce the risk of HS, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, the authors said. Foods in this diet typically include whole grains, nuts, legumes, berries, vegetables (especially leafy greens), olive oil, poultry and fish. Woman looking in fridge thinking about what to eat. Woman looking in fridge thinking about what to eat. shurkin_son/Getty Images "This cohort study of autopsied participants found that MIND diet adherence during follow-up was associated with a lower likelihood of HS, HS with LATE-NC [the most recently identified form of dementia, noted for its similarity to Alzheimer's disease] and hippocampal neuronal loss [damage to neurons in the part of the brain crucial for memory]," the researchers wrote in the study. "The association of diet with dementia was partially mediated by its association with HS. These findings suggest that the MIND diet may reduce adverse brain health outcomes." HS is a common marker of aging characterized by severe neuronal loss and injury in memory-associated regions in the hippocampus. HS is present in 20 percent of individuals with cognitive impairment and is increasingly recognized as an important pathology associated with cognitive impairment and dementia beyond typical Alzheimer's disease pathology, according to the researchers. HS is also associated with LATE-NC, Alzheimer's disease pathology and changes in the size of the hippocampus. Brain health food nutrition concept with fish, vegetables, seeds, pollen grain and herbs on rustic background. Brain health food nutrition concept with fish, vegetables, seeds, pollen grain and herbs on rustic background. marilyna/Getty Images The researchers had previously observed that people with HS showed impairment in hippocampus-dependent cognitive abilities, like memory—while those with both HS and Alzheimer's pathology had lower episodic memory scores than those with Alzheimer's pathology alone. "The fact that HS combined with other pathologies, like LATE-NC or AD, is associated with cognitive impairment or probable dementia suggests that prevention of these pathologies could result in lower risks of dementia. Thus, understanding whether the modifiable risk factors may prevent such pathology that impacts brain health is important for healthy aging," the researchers wrote. While this builds on previous studies suggesting diet is a potentially modifiable risk factor associated with dementia and other age-related cognitive outcomes, including MIND and low-calorie diets, it has been unknown whether MIND is associated with other dementia-related pathologies. This includes HS, LATE-NC (prevalent in individuals with HS), and hippocampal neuronal loss. This study investigated the association using postmortem brain tissue from a community-based sample of older adults and further investigated whether the association of the MIND diet with dementia diagnosis close to the time of death was mediated by HS. "Overall, this study supports that among older adults, adhering to a healthy dietary pattern, such as the MIND diet, is associated with reduced likelihood of hippocampal degeneration of aging, as indicated by HS, HS with LATE-NC and hippocampal neuronal loss," the researchers explained. "Our findings also support that the association of the MIND diet with hippocampal health may partially explain the association of a healthy diet with reduced dementia risk. "Further studies should investigate potential neurobiological mechanisms explaining these links, including neuroinflammation and brain oxidative stress, proposed mechanisms for the association of diet with dementia." Do you have a health story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about Alzheimer's? Let us know via health@ Reference Agarwal, P., Agrawal, S., Wagner, M., Cherian, L. J., Aggarwal, N. T., James, B. D., Holland, T. M., Bennett, D. A., Barnes, L. L., Leurgans, S. E., & Schneider, J. A. (2025). MIND diet and hippocampal sclerosis among community-based older adults. JAMA Network Open, 8(8). Wilson, R. S., Yang, J., Yu, L., Leurgans, S. E., Capuano, A. W., Schneider, J. A., Bennett, D. A., & Boyle, P. A. (2019). Postmortem neurodegenerative markers and trajectories of decline in cognitive systems. Neurology, 92(8), e831–e840.
UPI
2 days ago
- UPI
Great Plains lighting bolt spanning three states sets shocking record
1 of 2 | An image from NOAA's advanced GOES-16 satellite of the thunderstorm helped verify the record size of a megaflash lightning bolt on October 22, 2017. Photo by NOAA Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A massive lightning bolt that stretched from eastern Texas to just outside of Kansas City, Mo., has been officially recognized as the largest recorded flash by the World Meteorological Organization. The lightning bolt was generated by a major cluster of thunderstorms that swept over the Great Plains on Oct. 22, 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday. Researchers used advanced satellite technology to capture the flash's enormous span, and they hope it will help them better understand how lightning affects people. Despite the bolt having a horizontal distance of 515 miles, it was not identified in the original analysis of the thunderstorm and researchers took note of it during a recent re-examination, according to NOAA. The World Meteorological Organization's Committee on Weather and Climate Extremes used NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, the most advanced satellite technology available, to verify the length of the flash and recognize it as a new record, according to a press release from the organization. Researchers had previously used data collected by ground-based technology to measure lightning flashes, according to the press release. The use of satellite technology allowed researchers to observe a larger area. "Over time as the data record continues to expand, we will be able to observe even the rarest types of extreme lightning on Earth and investigate the broad impacts of lightning on society," Michael J. Peterson, a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Severe Storms Research Center and member of the committee, said in the press release. The lightning bolt's length is about the same distance between Paris, France, and Venice, Italy, according to the World Meteorological Organization. It would take about eight to nine hours to cover the same distance by car and about 90 minutes for a commercial plane. The previous record was for a lightning bolt that spanned 477 miles across parts of the southern U.S. on April 29, 2020. The Great Plains region is known for its large thunderstorms that also give rise to lightning "megaflashes" that extend over expansive distances or have longer durations. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a statement that while "lightning is a source of wonder," it is also a deadly hazard. "These new findings highlight important public safety concerns about electrified clouds which can produce flashes which travel extremely large distances and have a major impact on the aviation sector and can spark wildfires," Saulo said.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
Perseid Meteor Shower Begins Next Week — When To Get The Best View
The year's most prolific display of 'shooting stars,' the Perseid meteor shower, will peak next week, but conditions will not be ideal. With a bright moon bringing significant natural light pollution to the sky, only a handful of the 50-75 meteors per hour are expected to be visible overnight on Aug. 12-13. Despite that, this peak night will be the best night of the year to see the Perseid meteor shower. A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky above Inspiration Point early on August 12, 2016 in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. (Photo by) Getty Images Under a moonless dark sky away from light pollution, the Perseids can produce up to 75 meteors per hour on the peak night — more than one meteor per minute. This year, an 84%-lit moon will rise shortly after it gets dark on Aug.12 and remain in the night sky all night. The moonlight will significantly reduce the number of meteors visible, though the moon will remain rather low on the southern horizon. Although rates are likely to be vastly reduced, the Perseids do produce some bright 'fireballs' that ought to still be visible, if skies are clear. There will be a short window of opportunity in the evening of Aug. 15 to watch for Perseids in moonless night skies, though since the Perseids have a steep peak and trough, don't expect to see more than a handful of shooting stars. Perseid meteors move very fast, striking Earth's upper atmosphere at around 133,000 mph. That can sometimes cause a bright flash and a long trail that's visible for a split second. The Perseids are caused by dust particles from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which last visited the inner solar system in 1992. It takes 133 years to orbit the sun. Seeing a 'shooting star' requires patience — and for the Persieds in 2025, perhaps even more than usual. The best way to watch a meteor shower is to get out of the city, away from urban light pollution, according to NASA, such as a Dark Sky Place or somewhere found by using a light pollution map. Once in-situ, allow at least 20-30 minutes for your eyes to adjust before you start to wonder where the meteors are. Never look at your smartphone, whose bright light will instantly remove your night vision. Don't Miss The Conjunction Of Venus And Jupiter Tuesday, Aug. 12, is marked in the calendars of skywatchers for something other than the peak of the Perseid meteor shower this year. Rise an hour before sunrise and look to the east-northeast to see Venus and Jupiter less than a degree apart — the width of a finger held at arm's length against the sky. The Perseids are the most popular meteor shower of the year in the Northern Hemisphere because they peak during August, when camping trips are popular and practical. However, the strongest meteor shower of the year is December's Gemini meteor shower. Running from Dec. 7 through Dec. 17 and peaking overnight on Dec. 13-14 this year, the Geminids can produce up to 120 meteors per hour at their peak. This year, that peak will occur in a moonless night sky, with only a slim waning crescent moon rising in the early hours of Dec. 14. It's also the only annual meteor shower known to be produced by a meteor, called 3200 Phaethon. Further Reading
