Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela - world's lightning hotspot - Sydney Morning Herald

[gary]

In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald this evening, Georgina Mitchell
reports that by observing satellite data from the Lightning Image Sensor
for the past 16 years, meteorologists have named Lake Maracaibo
in Venezuela as the "lightning capital of the world".

Originally Posted by Georgina Mitchell. Sydney Morning Herald

At the junction of Catatumbo River and Lake Maracaibo, a Venezuelan bay at the tip of the South American continent, there is an average of 233 flashes of lightning per square kilometre per year.

There is an average of 233 flashes of lightning per square kilometre per year.

This amount of lightning has topped Africa's Congo Basin, the area previously thought to have the most lightning strikes each year.

Lake Maracaibo's new official title was announced by researchers in the journal Bureau of the American Meteorology Society, firming up its reputation as "Venezuela's everlasting storm".

Article here -
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/we...#ixzz48u5sMbxm

Originally Posted by Dr. Rachel Ifanger Albrecht, et. al., American Meterological Society

Lake Maracaibo’s pattern of convergent windflow (mountain-valley, lake and sea breezes) occurs over the warm lake waters nearly year-round and contributes to nocturnal thunderstorm development 297 days per year in average. These thunderstorms are very localized and their persistent development anchored in one location accounts for the high flash rate density.

...

Africa is the continent with the most lightning hotspots, followed by Asia, South America, North America, and Australia. A climatological map of the local hour of maximum flash rate density reveals that most oceanic total lightning maxima are related to nocturnal thunderstorms, while continental lightning tends to occur during the afternoon. Most of the principal continental maxima are located near major mountain ranges, revealing the importance of local topography in thunderstorm development.

American Meteorological Society, Albrecht, et. al., "Where are the lightning hotspots on Earth?" abstract and article here -
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/...S-D-14-00193.1

[Tandum (Robin)]

No wonder. I spent a year there in the late seventies squeezing oil rigs between other oil rigs and dropping anchors so they didn't overlap. There are thousands of them. Blurred on google earth.

[raymo]

Brings back memories from the early 60s when I was on regular runs to Lake Maracaibo, Caracas, Aruba, Curacao, and up the Orinoco to Matanzas.
I often used to come up out of the engine room and sit on deck for a smoke
and watch the lightning.
raymo

[gary]

Originally Posted by raymo

Brings back memories from the early 60s when I was on regular runs to Lake Maracaibo, Caracas, Aruba, Curacao, and up the Orinoco to Matanzas.
I often used to come up out of the engine room and sit on deck for a smoke
and watch the lightning.
raymo

[OICURMT]

Looks like a few of us have somthing in common. I traveled to Maracaibo off and on from 1990 to 1996 and just arrived into Maracaibo on January 17, 1991 when the country basically went on lock-down...

Had a great night in the hotel bar drinking and watching the weather, which is always changing.

I was working in Puerto La Cruz on in 1998 and flew to Maracaibo to watch the February 26th solar eclipse... weather was perfect that afternoon (eclipse was mid-day).. that evening was a little rough taking off... early evening thunderstorms were just starting up.

[Tandum (Robin)]

I remember the time frame as news of Lenons shooting came over the radio.

[raymo]

That.s a bit creepy because we were tied up in Curacao when J.F.K
was shot.
raymo

[Tandum (Robin)]

Showing your age there Raymo. shhh.
Was Curacao the town on the northern side of the bridge?
It's so long ago. I remember going over a long bridge to get into the city.
Got robbed twice by police with machine guns.
You just don't argue
Bloody 5hithole.

Never got robbed in North Korea.

[raymo]

No, Curacao is an island South of the entrance to Lake Maracaibo, and Aruba
is an island to the North of the entrance. Curacao's capital is Willemstadt.
raymo

[Tandum (Robin)]

Too long ago for my recollections. Over 30 years.

I'm off to France next week.
Hope I don't get robbed there

[skysurfer]

According to Wikipedia it is indeed de most lightning rich places in the world. But Singapore also has a high lightning rate and for Australia, Darwin has.