世界上最长的闪电

河北 郝海龙

A strike of lightning that stretched across three American states has been identified as the longest lightning ever recorded.The lightning was recorded on April 29,2020.It covered an area of 768 kilometers across the states of Texas,Louisiana and Mississippi.The old record,set in 2018,was a lightning strike in Brazil that covered 709 kilometers.The World MeteorologicalOrganization（WMO）spokesperson Clare Nullis said the new record demonstrated the speed by which lightning can strike.

The new record was confirmed using new satellite tracking technology,the WMO said.The technology permits weather officials to effectively measure the size and duration of lightning bolts across the world.The agency also announced another record,for the longest duration of a single bolt.That strike happened during a storm over Uruguay and northern Argentina on June 18,2020.It lasted 17.1 seconds.The old record for duration was 16.7 seconds for a bolt that hit over northern Argentina on March 4,2019.

Arizona State University's Randall Cerveny is the chief of record confirmations for the WMO.He told the Associated Press that lightning normally does not stretch farther than 16 kilometers.It usually lasts less than a second.Cerveny called the two lightning bolt records“extraordinary”.He noted that both record strikes happened between clouds hundreds of meters above the ground,so no one was in danger.

The WMO's Nullis said that while the two record bolts never touched the ground,they should serve as a warning about the danger of lightning.Hundreds of people die from getting struck by lightning each year.“We repeat our message:when thunder crashes in the sky,when you see lightning,go indoors,”Nullis said.

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