Though it struck over the U.S. years ago, experts have only recently determined that a lightning bolt that a lightning flash that extended from Texas to Missouri back in October 2017 was actually the longest in recorded history.

Scientists using satellite data discovered a record-breaking lightning bolt that stretched 515 miles from Texas to Kansas City in 2017.

A single flash of lightning that stretched across the Great Plains, from eastern Texas all the way to Kansas City, Missouri, turned out to be a staggering 515 miles long. A new report in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society documented the new lightning record, which beat the previous title holder, a 477-mile bolt from April 2020.

A stroke of lighting that lasted more than 7 seconds and flashed across 829 kilometres is officially the longest ever recorded

Lightning is a familiar sight in stormy skies, but a new report has revealed just how far some bolts can travel — in one case, more than 500 miles.

Lightning struck and set a world record. The flash occurred in 2017 and spanned from eastern Texas to near west-central Missouri — a distance of 515 miles, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Eight years later, scientists have recognized the lightning flash as the longest ever documented.

NOAA’s GOES-16 satellite detects around one million lightning flashes per day from its perch high above the Earth. It is the first of four NOAA satellites that’s equipped with geostationary lightning mappers and is joined by similar satellites launched by Europe and China.

Scientists have announced that a 2017 lightning bolt has set the record for the longest lightning flash in recorded history.