Weatherwatch: the superbolt lightning season is approaching
by Kate Ravilious from on (#4QVW8)
Recent research shows that superbolt lightning breaks the patterns associated with conventional lightning
Summer is often a time for spectacular lightning, but a new study reveals that the most powerful lightning bolts strike during northern hemisphere winter. Unlike conventional lightning, "superbolts" are most common over water with hotspots over the Mediterranean and north-east Atlantic.
The World Wide Lightning Location Network uses data from about 100 globally distributed lightning detection stations to pinpoint the location and size of lightning strikes. The largest bolts, known as superbolts, release more than 1,000 times more electrical energy than the average bolt. About one in every 250,000 lightning bolts is a superbolt.
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