Relampago del Catatumbo, Ologa, Venezuela

image: http://www.sunnyskyz.com/uploads/2014/01/71qxj-Catatumbolightning.jpg
natural oddities
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Thanks to its humidity, its elevation and the clash of winds from the mountains and the sea, the southwestern corner of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela has the world's highest frequency of lightning activity (250 flashes per square kilometer per year).
More than 200 nights per year, with peaks in May and October, lightning flashes fill the sky -- sometimes 25 or more flashes per minute. To put that in perspective: The National Weather Service classifies anything over 12 strikes per minute as "excessive." Named for the Catatumbo River, which flows from Colombia in to Lake Maracaibo, the Relampago de Catatumbo, or Catatumbo Lighting, has become a highlight for travelers who spend their nights wide awake and wide-eyed watching the spectacle.


Catatumbo lightning (SpanishRelámpago del Catatumbo) is an atmospheric phenomenon in Venezuela. It occurs only over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo.
It originates from a mass of storm clouds at a height of more than 1 km, and occurs during 260 nights a year, 10 hours per day and up to 280 times per hour. It occurs over and around Lake Maracaibo, typically over the bog area formed where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake.
Catatumbo lightning changes its frequency throughout the year, and it is different from year to year. For example, it ceased from January to March 2010, apparently due to drought, temporarily raising fears that it might have been extinguished permanently.




Credited From http://www.sunnyskyz.com and en.wikipedia.org

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