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‘Everlasting storm’ produces thousands of lightning strikes a year

We love a good lighting storm — but imagine a place where you’ll find an epic, world-record-holding bout of bolts almost every night.

An “everlasting storm” known as Relámpago del Catatumbo appears in the exact same place and has been lighting the skies in South America constantly for thousands of years.

An article by science website Mother Nature Network explains the weather phenomenon that is found above swamp ground in northwest Venezuela and averages 28 lightning strikes per minute for up to 10 hours at a time — something that’s so bright, it can be seen from over 250 miles away and is so dependable, it has been used by sailors and fishermen as a lighthouse.

Wikipedia
But more than helping to guide ships safely ashore, the lightning has also played a major role in the country’s defense by helping to scupper would-be stealthy nighttime invasions. In 1595, the bright bolts revealed an invading fleet of ships from England, while in 1823, it exposed Spanish ships trying to slyly encroach during the Venezuelan War of Independence.

This natural wonder has been stirring up debate among scientists over its constant appearance.

Situated where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo, which is surrounded by mountains, the landscape forms a bowl-like shape perfect for trapping warm trade winds from the Caribbean Sea that clash into the cool air rolling down from the mountains and sent into the air to condense into thunderclouds.

The large lake’s rapidly evaporating water in the intense Venezuelan heat provides a constant supply of updrafts, acting like a “big thunderstorm machine.”

Wikipedia
However, some argue the large amounts of methane gas that bubble to the surface from the oil deposits deep below Lake Maracaibo are accountable for the omnipresent storms. This theory has yet to be proven, but most experts believe there is not enough methane present to cause such storms.

There have been only a handful of times Relámpago del Catatumbo has ceased to strike. The most recent was back in 2010, when the lights went out for six weeks. Locals were mystified and slightly saddened by the absence. The cause for its disappearance was apparently El Niño — another weather phenomenon that affects global weather patterns and caused vast areas of South America, including Venezuela, to plunge into drought.

The weather wonder returned the same year and is continuing to flash away today. It’s considered a national treasure and there is a campaign to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.