A flash that lasted five states in the main plains has set a new record for the longest lighting ever recorded, confirmed the world meteorological organization.
The “Megaflash” crossed 515 miles (829 kilometers) from eastern Texas to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas near Kansas City, Missouri, in seven seconds, beating the previous record 477 miles (768 km).
The flash occurred on October 22, 2017, but it was too long to be fully measured by the ground sensors at the time. Now, a new study that used the data from a geostationary satellite has finally documented the massive scope of the Boulon. The researchers published their results Thursday, July 31, in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
“It is likely that even greater extremes still exist and that we will be able to observe them as additional high -quality lightning measures accumulate over time,” said the main study of the study Randall Cervenyprofessor of geographic sciences at Arizona State University, said in a statement.
Exactly how lightning obtains its initial spark always disputed. But scientists know that this occurs when the electrons regroup in a region of a storm cloud, thus creating an ionized path in the air between which the electrons can flow from the negative load regions at the positive load.
In some storm clouds, in particular the enormous clusters that form on hotspots such as the large plains, the dynamics sub-studied in the clouds can cause discharges that extend beyond 60 miles (100 km)-which earned them the title of “megaflashes”.
In relation: Lightning on earth is triggered by a powerful chain reaction of space, the simulations show
In the study, scientists have reconstructed the length of the flash by analyzing the data of the GOS -16 satellite of the national ocean and atmospheric administration – one of the agency’s four satellites with cartridges that continuously monitor the soil of lightning zaps. Using new algorithms, scientists have separated the bolt from millions of other lightnings of light to reveal its full extent.
“Our meteorological satellites have very demanding lightning detection equipment that we can use to document the millisecond when a flash flash begins and how far it travels,” said Cerveny.
Experts say that, beyond the highlighting of impressive progress of new meteorological surveillance technologies, discovery is an important reminder that lightning can strike far from the storm cells where it was originally generated.
“It illustrates the threat of” recently recognized bolt of the gray “” “similar to the” blue bolt “of isolated cells, but which can travel several hundred kilometers from the main load generation region”, Co-author Walt LyonsPresident of FMA Research, an investigation company for medico-legal meteorology in Fort Collins, Colorado, said in a press release.
“If lightning is within 10 km [6.2 miles] As the reliable lights of lightning show, go to the building or the Lightning Safe vehicle, “he added.” As these extreme cases show, lightning can happen in a few seconds over a long distance, but they are integrated into larger thunderstorms, so be aware. “”
