CATATUMBO THE GREATEST SPECTACLE OF LIGHTNING IS LOCATED IN VENEZUELA
Catatumbo lightning is a meteorological phenomenon that occurs in the Maracaibo lake basin in Venezuela, mainly in the southern part of the lake and in the lower basin of the Catatumbo river, from which its name derives. Scientists from the Scientific Modeling Center indicate that it would be more appropriate to talk about the Catatumbo lightning bolts, because they tend to occur in multiple places every night, but from a distance they are seen as a single phenomenon. It is one of the 5 most known natural phenomena worldwide. [Citation needed]
This phenomenon is characterized by the appearance of a series of lightning almost continuously and virtually silent because of the large distances needed to observe the phenomenon, which occurs in clouds of great vertical development forming electric shocks between 1 and almost 4 kilometers of height, as the winds associated with the Low Level Nocturnal Jet of the Lake Maracaibo Basin penetrate the surface of the lake in the afternoon hours (when the evaporation is greater) and are forced to ascend through the mountainous system of Perijá (of 3,750 msnm) and the Mountain range of Merida, the Venezuelan branch of the Andes (of up to 5,000 msnm, approximately).
The origin of this phenomenon is in the orographic effect of these mountain ranges that enclose and brake the northeasterly winds; thus, clouds of great vertical development are produced, concentrated mainly in the Catatumbo river basin. This phenomenon is very easy to see from hundreds of kilometers away, as from Cúcuta, in Colombia, or from the lake itself (where there are usually no clouds at night). For this reason, it is also known as the Maracaibo Lighthouse, since the boats that sailed the area could sail during the night without problems at the time of sailing. It can occur up to 260 times a year and lasts up to 10 hours per night; In addition, this phenomenon can reach 60 downloads per minute.
Although it is true that electrical storms produce a high amount of ozone, and Catatumbo has the highest density of electrical discharges in the world, with more than 200 / km² / year, 1 2 3 it is very unlikely that this ozone will arrive to the stratosphere and regenerate the ozone layer.4
Location
Satellite image of the Caribbean and North of South America taken on October 10, 2012, showing the Venezuelan territory. It can be observed that, although almost all of Venezuela is cloudless, the southwest of Lake Maracaibo, as well as the region also southwest of the state of Zulia itself, are covered with clouds. The tropical depression east of Venezuela with a 30% chance of becoming a tropical storm soon became Hurricane Rafael.
The Catatumbo lightning is usually developed between the coordinates of 8º 30 'and 9º 45' north latitude and 71º and 73º west longitude, which is a very large area although, as is logical, not all of this area always has the same stormy activity. The most remote areas of this large area are occupied by Motilon indigenous groups, which tenaciously resisted the domination by the Spaniards first and those who tried to exploit their territory later. And it was very recently when they accepted the participation of Spanish Capuchin missionaries (already in the second half of the 20th century), who founded several mission towns such as El Tukuko and others. In El Tukuko a simple meteorological station was installed and in several years of observation the annual rainfall never dropped below 4,000 mm, which serves to give an example of the raininess of the area. In turn, this also explains the great flow of the Catatumbo River, which, with some 500 km in length, is navigable over a large part of its route. The final part of its course has numerous meanders and delivers to the lake of Maracaibo an enormous amount of sediments, ending in a delta that has been built in the lake itself. In fact, if it were not for the fact that the lake constitutes a zone of land subsidence (that is, a sedimentary or subsidence basin), the sediments contributed by the river have long covered the lake completely.