Lightning strike spans 515 miles, breaking previous record
Whether it's waking you up in the middle of the night, or causing your favorite sports game to go on late, everyone has had their experience with lightning.
Just last Thursday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released certification of the world's largest lightning flash, which took place in 2017, beating the previous record held from 2020.
This record breaking storm actually would start off just to the northeast of Dallas, Texas and expand its way through portions of Oklahoma and Kansas before stopping in Missouri just to the northeast of Kansas City, expanding 515 miles. The storm this strike came from was in 2017, but the previous record was actually in 2020. The reason there's a little bit of a lag in the data is because there was new information that was being processed from NOAA's GOEs-16 satellite at the time.
With extremely large strikes being possible, lightning safety is very important. Anytime you could be around showers and storms, it's important to know that lightning can strike just outside of the actual clouds. This is often called a "Bolt from Blue strike" which will go from the cloud in the storm, expanding all the way out into a clear air area, and travel potential over 25 miles away from the originating storm. This can happen even when it's not raining.
A great way to monitor any incoming storms with lightning is by downloading and using the ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather app on your phone's app store. By turning on the alerts for your location, the app will automatically notify you anytime a lightning strike occurs within 15 miles or closer, allowing you to have an effective amount of time to get indoors.
