The Never-Ending Lightning Storm in Venezuela (GIFs)
You know how they say lightning never strikes in the same place twice? Well, that may be true for other parts of the world but it definitely doesn't apply to one lake in Venezuela, where an everlasting storm flashes almost every night of the year. This phenomenon is called Catatumbo lightning.
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Do you find lightning storms exciting or frightening? If it's the former, you'll have a blast (heh) in Venezuela where the Catatumbo River empties into Lake Maracaibo. Here, the night sky is illuminated by lightning for around 260 days per year.
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Summer storms are common along the equator when temperatures are higher. But Venezuela's region of the Catatumbo lightning is by far the most electric place on earth, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records the "highest concentration of lightning" (i.e. 250 lightning flashes per square kilometre each year). In October, at peak wet season, you can see up to 28 lightning flashes per minute. Wow.
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The reason behind this sensational natural phenomenon has eluded scientists for decades. Potential causes for the Catatumbo lightning include uranium deposits in the bedrock, increased air conductivity boosted by methane, and a combination of topography and wind patterns. So far, no one theory has proven itself better than the other, so scientists are sticking with the most common cause for lightning storms: the features of the land's terrain.
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An interesting feature of the Catatumbo lightning is that the lightning flashes are either completely silent, or produce very faint noises (this is because light travels further and faster than sound). This is good news for the people who live around the area - I wouldn't fancy trying to sleep through a vicious storm 260 nights of the year, would you?
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The Catatumbo lightning is one of nature's most beautiful mysteries. A hotspot for weather photographers and storm enthusiasts, this phenomenon reminds us just how much we don't know about nature.
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