The Longest Lightning Strike Ever
In October 2017, the largest lightning strike ever recorded occurred. The flash covered 829km of land, breaking the previous record of 768km by more than 50km and spanning from Texas to Kansas City. For comparison, it would take a car 8 – 9 hours to drive that far.
Even though this mega-flash happened in 2017, it was only fully understood in 2025 because we now have more advanced technology to measure lightning strikes.
Lightning is a natural electrical discharge that happens when a charge builds up within a cloud until the cloud can’t hold it anymore, at which point it releases the energy as a flash toward the ground or another cloud.
Technology has advanced to the point we can use orbital satellites to measure lightning from space. People used to measure lightning strikes with sensors in the ground, but now satellites can stay in one place and record the lightning as it strikes.
https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-certifies-megaflash-lightning-record-usa
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cy98qvdv9g7o
