The World's Largest Lightning Storm The Venezuelan Thunderstorm That Creates One Million Bolts a Year

The World's Largest Lightning Storm

The Venezuelan Thunderstorm That Creates One Million Bolts a Year

Lightning Storm - fanndango

Venezuela's Catatumbo Lightning phenomenon spawns more lightning than any other storm in the world, and has helped shape the history of the region for centuries.

    

Throughout most of the world, lightning is a rare occurrence. Residents of certain locales can go years and even decades without ever glimpsing a single bolt. However, there is a region in South America where each day the heavens are torn and cleaved by a mighty and interminable display of atmospheric upheaval rarely seen outside of a tropical cyclone. This region hosts the world's greatest natural light show; the Catatumbo Lightning.

Catatumbo Lightning Statistics

For residents of temperate regions accustomed to storms of brief duration and intermittent frequency, the immensity of this phenomenon can be difficult to comprehend. According to the November 26th, 2007 MeteoGroup article 'Fire in the Sky' this single storm, which never changes position, creates over 1,000,000 electrical discharges (bolts) per year. The intensity of the discharges can reach 400,000 amps and the light from the storm is clearly visible 250 miles (400 kilometers) away. It is also the largest natural producer of atmospheric ozone in the world.