Catatumbo lightning
Catatumbo lightning is a mesmerising natural phenomenon that occurs over the Catatumbo River in Venezuela, where lightning strikes almost continuously.
This phenomenon primarily happens at the mouth of the Catatumbo River, where it meets Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in Venezuela.
A convergence of several factors give rise to the unique conditions required for Catatumbo lightning.
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”
Catatumbo River
The Catatumbo River is a river rising in northern Colombia, flowing into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.
It forms a part of the international boundary between the two countries.
The river's name means "House of Thunder" in the language of the Bari people.
The river flows through the Catatumbo moist forests ecoregion.
It then flows through the Maracaibo dry forests ecoregion before emptying into Lake Maracaibo.
Prior to emptying into Maracaibo, the Catatumbo River also merges with the Zulia River.
Together with the nearby Escalante River, Catatumbo is a producing area for cocoa beans of the Criollo cultivar.
Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo is a brackish lake located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida.
Hydrologically, it is a semi-enclosed bay off the coast of the Gulf of Venezuela.
With a surface area of 13,512 km2, it is the largest lake in South America and one of the oldest on Earth, having formed disputably as a lake 36 million years ago in the Andes Mountains.
The lake is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela to the north by a narrow spit.
It is fed by numerous rivers, the biggest being the Catatumbo River.
The fault in the northern section has collapsed and is rich in oil and gas resources.
It is Venezuela's main oil producing area and an important fishing and agricultural producing area.
Eutrophication caused by oil pollution is a major environmental problem facing the lagoon.
Lake Maracaibo
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