Venezuela has the highest annual lightning strikes with around 1.2 million strikes per year, occurring over Lake Maracaibo for thousands of years. The phenomenon lasts for 10 hours with 3,600 strikes every hour, and is linked to the area’s landscape. Lightning can strike up to 10 miles away and can hit the same object multiple times.
Venezuela has the most annual lightning strikes, with approximately 1.2 million lightning strikes annually in a phenomenon referred to as the “everlasting storm.” The continuous storm is thought to have occurred over Lake Maracaibo, an area of northwest Venezuela, for thousands of years. Its lightning strikes can be seen from about 250 miles (400 km) away and generally last 10 hours at a time, with about 3,600 lightning strikes every hour. It is not known why this phenomenon occurs. However, theories link it to the landscape of the area, such as strong winds on the lake forming storm clouds as they meet the Andres Mountains or the release of methane gas into the atmosphere from marshes.
Learn more about lightning:
Lightning can strike areas up to 10 miles (16 km) from the center of the storm.
Fishermen in the Lake Maracaibo area typically use lightning for nighttime navigation instead of relying on lighthouses.
Contrary to popular myths, lightning can strike the same object more than once: The 103-story Empire State Building in New York City has been struck by lightning approximately 100 times.
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