--- title: World's Longest Lightning Bolt Travelled Almost 200 Miles description: Scientists have identified the world's longest lightning flash, at 7.74 seconds, and lightning bolt, at 199.5 miles canonical: https://time.com/4496680/lightning-bolt-record-200-miles/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-16T12:02:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:10:41.415Z article:section: Science og:title: World's Longest Lightning Bolt Traveled Almost 200 Miles og:description: Scientists have identified the world's longest lightning flash, at 7.74 seconds og:url: https://time.com/4496680/lightning-bolt-record-200-miles/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa0d7b4a3f093a15/6988a6642dce01d6999eaaf9/ap_561853601323.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3836 og:image:height: 2158 og:image:alt: Thunderstorm near Rottweil og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World's Longest Lightning Bolt Traveled Almost 200 Miles twitter:description: Scientists have identified the world's longest lightning flash, at 7.74 seconds twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa0d7b4a3f093a15/6988a6642dce01d6999eaaf9/ap_561853601323.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # World's Longest Lightning Bolt Traveled Almost 200 Miles by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Sep 16, 2016 12:02 PM UTC  Lightning bolts can be seen during a thunderstorm near Rottweil, Germany, 10 September 2016\. The chapel 'Maria im Felde' is visible due to the lightning. Photo by: Silas Stein/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images Lightning bolts can be seen during a thunderstorm near Rottweil, Germany, 10 September 2016\. The chapel 'Maria im Felde' is visible due to the lightning. Photo by: Silas Stein/picture-alliance/dpa/AP ImagesSilas Stein—Silas Stein/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Sep 16, 2016 12:02 PM UTC Scientists say the world’s longest [lightning bolt](http://time.com/4311178/lightning-hits-plane/) traveled 199.5 miles and also confirmed the existence of a lightning [flash](http://time.com/4470432/lightning-strike-norway-reindeer/) that lasted for over 7 seconds. The record-breaking bolt was recorded stretching almost the entire length of Oklahoma, which is 230 miles wide, on June 20, 2007\. The flash occurred over Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France, on Aug. 30, 2012\. Experts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) [successfully evaluated the records](https://wmo.asu.edu/content/two-new-lightning-extremes-announced) using improved remote sensing techniques which allowed the detection of previously unobserved lightning extremes. Randall Cerveny, chief Rapporteur of Climate and Weather Extremes for WMO, said that the investigation highlighted that, because of technological improvements, climate experts can now monitor and detect specific lightning in greater detail than ever before. Cerveny said the result reinforced the fact that lightning can travel huge distances from their parent thunderstorms. “Our experts’ best advice: when thunder roars, go indoors,” he added. According to the [National Weather Service](http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.shtml), lightning strikes the U.S. about 25 million times a year, killing an average of 49 people and severely injuring hundreds more. There have been 35 deaths by lightning in the U.S. in 2016 so far, the most fatalities since 2007, when 45 people died. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4496680/lightning-bolt-record-200-miles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4496680/lightning-bolt-record-200-miles/"},"headline":"World's Longest Lightning Bolt Traveled Almost 200 Miles","datePublished":"2016-09-16T12:02:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:10:41.415Z","description":"The world's longest lightning bolt stretched for 199.5 miles","url":"https://time.com/4496680/lightning-bolt-record-200-miles/","keywords":["lightning","weather"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa0d7b4a3f093a15/6988a6642dce01d6999eaaf9/ap_561853601323.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa0d7b4a3f093a15/6988a6642dce01d6999eaaf9/ap_561853601323.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Thunderstorm near Rottweil","caption":"Thunderstorm near Rottweil","creditText":"Silas Stein—Silas Stein/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lightning/","name":"lightning"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4496680/lightning-bolt-record-200-miles/","name":"World's Longest Lightning Bolt Traveled Almost 200 Miles"}}]}] ```