Context: Almost 300 nights a year, a lightning storm rages in a small part of Venezuela. Known as Relámpago del Catatumbo, the storm is located where the Catatumbo River flows into Lake Maracaibo. Warm air from the Caribbean meets the cold air from the mountains, creating the perfect conditions for lightning. 

About Catatumbo lightning

• It is a mesmerising natural phenomenon that occurs over the Catatumbo River in Venezuela, where lightning strikes almost continuously.

• It primarily happens at the mouth of the Catatumbo River, where it meets Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in Venezuela.

• It is caused by a convergence of warm, moist air from the Caribbean Sea colliding with cooler air from the Andes mountains.

• The collision creates rapidly rising air that cools and condenses, forming towering cumulonimbus clouds.

How it occurs?

• Warm, moist air from the Caribbean Sea is pushed towards the Andes mountains, where it collides with cooler air descending from the peaks.

• This collision creates a perfect storm of sorts, as the warmer air is forced to rise rapidly by the shape of the local landscape. And as it does, it cools and condenses, forming towering cumulonimbus clouds.

• Meanwhile, the combination of strong winds and temperature differentials generates electrical charges within these clouds.

• The cumulonimbus clouds — sometimes reaching heights of more than 5 km — load up on static electricity.

• When the electrical potential within the clouds becomes too great, it discharges in the form of lightning.

• Catatumbo lightning is distinguished by its frequency and duration: the strikes occur for up to 160 nights in a year, with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute at its peak. Thanks to this constant flow of current, the area has earned the title of “the lightning capital of the world”.

About Lake Maracaibo

• It is located in Venezuela and is the largest lake in Latin America.

• It is also among the oldest water bodies on the planet. Its proximity to the Andes Mountains and the Caribbean Sea creates a unique geographical setup that plays a crucial role in the frequency of lightning in the region.

Cumulonimbus Clouds

• Cumulonimbus clouds are towering, vertically-developed clouds associated with thunderstorms and severe weather.

• They form due to strong upward atmospheric motion caused by convection.

• These clouds typically have a flat, anvil-shaped top, resulting from the spreading of their upper portion in the stratosphere.

• They can reach impressive heights, often exceeding several miles.

• Lightning, thunder, heavy rain, hail, and tornadoes are common phenomena associated with cumulonimbus clouds.

• They play a crucial role in the Earth’s water cycle by producing precipitation.