Longest lightning flash: 50x length of average bolt sets world record

A new world record for the longest lightning flash has been confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The megaflash, which occurred during a storm on October 22, 2017, in the U.S. Midwest, traveled an extraordinary 515 miles (approximately 830 kilometers) from eastern Texas to near Kansas City. This distance surpasses the previous record by 37 miles and is roughly equivalent to the distance between Paris and Venice. The flash was identified through a re-examination of satellite data from NOAA’s GOES-16 satellite, which has advanced capabilities for detecting long-duration lightning events known as megaflashes, particularly common in Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) thunderstorms in the Great Plains region. The discovery highlights both the scientific progress in lightning observation and the significant public safety concerns related to such extreme lightning events. Lightning remains a major hazard globally, posing risks to aviation, wildfire ignition, and general public safety. The WMO emphasized the importance of early warning