Lighting storm in Venezuela is ‘never ending’ natural wonder

TALK about wild weather! This lightning storm in South America has been appearing in the same place almost every night for thousands of years.

A lightning storm in Venezuela has been raging almost every night for thousands of years. Source: Wiki Commons

WE love a good lighting storm but imagine a place where youÂ’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 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 400km away and is so dependable it has been used by sailors and fishermen as a lighthouse.

But more than helping to guide ships safely ashore the lighting has also played a major role in the country’s defence by helping to scupper would-be stealthy night time 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 as to its constant appearance.

Situated where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo, which is surrounded by mountains, this 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’.

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 has 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 a campaign to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site is being lobbied.