Catatumbo lightning

File:Lake Maracaibo map.png

Catatumbo lightning usually develops between {{coord|8|30|N|71|0|W|type:waterbody|name=Approximate outer limit}} and {{coord|9|45|N|73|0|W|type:waterbody|name=Approximate outer limit}}, toward the west of Lake Maracaibo. The storms are thought to be the result of winds blowing across the lake and the surrounding swampy plains. These air masses meet the high mountain ridges of the Andes, the Perijá Mountains ({{convert|3,750|m|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}), and Mérida Cordillera, enclosing the plain from three sides. The heat and moisture collected across the plains create electrical charges and, as the air masses are destabilized by the mountain ridges, result in thunderstorm activity. The phenomenon is characterized by almost continuous lightning, mostly within the clouds. The lightning produces a great quantity of ozone, though whether or not this contributes to the ozonosphere is a topic of disagreement, given the instability of the storm.[http://www.agenciadenoticias.luz.edu.ve/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4965&Itemid=151 ¿Relámpagos del Catatumbo regeneran la capa de ozono?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305205225/http://www.agenciadenoticias.luz.edu.ve/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4965&Itemid=151 |date=2016-03-05 }}. Agencia de noticias de la Universidad del Zulia.{{cite web |last1=Maddicks |first1=Russell |title=In Venezuela, nature's most electrifying lightning show |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20140912-in-venezuela-natures-most-electrifying-lightning-show |website=www.bbc.com |access-date=23 November 2022 |language=en}}

Russian researcher Andrei Zavrotsky investigated the area several times. He concluded that the lightning has several epicenters in the marshes of Juan Manuel de Aguas National Park, Claras Aguas Negras, and western Lake Maracaibo. In 1991, he suggested that the phenomenon occurred due to cold and warm air currents meeting around the area. The study also speculated that an isolated cause for the lightning might be the presence of uranium in the bedrock.{{cite web |url=http://www.saber.ula.ve/bitstream/123456789/27668/1/articulo12.pdf |title=Una vida consagrada a los números |trans-title=A life dedicated to numbers, Andrés Zavrotsky |language=es |first=Yamile |last=Cárdenas |date=1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420015031/http://www.saber.ula.ve/bitstream/123456789/27668/1/articulo12.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2009 |url-status=dead}}

Between 1997 and 2000, a series of four studies proposed that the methane produced by the swamps and the massive oil deposits in the area were a major cause of the phenomenon.{{cite journal |url=http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2010/02/lightning-up.html |title=Phenomena – A science salon hosted by National Geographic Magazine |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040050 |publisher=Blogs.ngm.com |date=2002-10-17 |access-date=2013-02-08 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129014235/http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2010/02/lightning-up.html |archive-date=2012-01-29 |pmc=1363710 |last1=Nicholls |first1=H. |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=e50 |pmid=16464130 |doi-access=free }} The methane model is based on the symmetry properties of methane.{{clarify|date=August 2020}} Other studies have indicated that this model is contradicted by the observed behavior of the lightning, as it would predict that there would be more lightning in the dry season (January–February), and less in the wet season (April–May and September–October).{{cite journal | last1 = Bürgesser | first1 = R. E. | last2 = Nicora | first2 = M. G. | last3 = Ávila | first3 = E. E. | year = 2012 | title = Characterization of the lightning activity of "Relámpago del Catatumbo | journal = Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics | volume = 77 | pages = 241–247 | doi=10.1016/j.jastp.2012.01.013| bibcode = 2012JASTP..77..241B }}{{cite journal | last1 = Muñoz | first1 = Á.G. | last2 = Díaz-Lobatón | first2 = J. | last3 = Chourio | first3 = X. | last4 = Stock | first4 = J. | year = 2016 | title = Seasonal prediction of lightning activity in North Western Venezuela: Large-scale versus local drivers | journal = Atmospheric Research | volume = 172–173 | pages = 147–162 | doi = 10.1016/j.atmosres.2015.12.018 | bibcode = 2016AtmRe.172..147M }}

A team from the Universidad del Zulia has investigated the impact of different atmospheric variables on Catatumbo lightning's daily, seasonal and year-to-year variability, finding relationships with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Caribbean Low-Level Jet, and the local winds and convective available potential energy (CAPE).Muñoz, Á.G., Díaz-Lobatón, J., 2011: "The Catatumbo Lightnings: A review", Memoirs of the XIV International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity. Brazil.{{cite journal | last1 = Torrealba | first1 = E. | last2 = Amador | first2 = J. | year = 2010 | title = La corriente en chorro de bajo nivel sobre los Llanos Venezolanos de Sur América | journal = Revista de Climatología | volume = 10 | pages = 1–20 }}Muñoz, Á.G., Díaz-Lobatón, J., 2012: Los Relámpagos del Catatumbo y el Flujo Energético Medio en la Cuenca del Lago de Maracaibo. Reporte público CMC-GEO-DDI-02-2011. Centro de Modelado Científico. Universidad del Zulia. 12 p. En http://cmc.org.ve/portal/archivo.php?archivo=241Muñoz, Á.G., Núñez, A., Chourio, X., Díaz-Lobatón, J., Márquez, R., Moretto, P., Juárez, M., Casanova, V., Quintero, A., Zurita, D., Colmenares, V., Vargas, L., Salcedo, M.L., Padrón, R., Contreras, L., Parra, H., Vaughan, C., Smith, D., 2015: Reporte Final de la Expedición Catatumbo: Abril 2015. Reporte Público CMC-01-2015. Centro de Modelado Científico (CMC). Universidad del Zulia. 20 p. {{doi|10.13140/RG.2.1.1351.0566}} Using satellite data, NASA counts that there are around 250 instances of lightning per km².Albrecht, R., et al., 2011. The 13 years of TRMM Lightning Imaging Sensor: from individual flash characteristics to decadal tendencies. XIV Int. Conf. Atmos. Elec., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.{{cite journal | last1 = Albrecht | first1 = R. I. | last2 = Goodman | first2 = S. J. | last3 = Buechler | first3 = D. E. | last4 = Blakeslee | first4 = R. J. | last5 = Christian | first5 = H. J. | year = 2016 | title = Where are the lightning hotspots on Earth? | journal = Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society| volume = 97| issue = 11| pages = 2051–2068 | doi = 10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00193.1 | bibcode = 2016BAMS...97.2051A| doi-access = free }}

A 2016 study showed that it is possible to forecast lightning in the Lake Maracaibo basin up to a few months in advance, based in the variability of the Lake Maracaibo Low-Level Jet and its interactions with predictable climate modes like the ENSO and the Caribbean Low-Level Jet. The study also showed that the forecast accuracy is significantly higher when an index based on a combination of winds and convective available potential energy (CAPE) is used. The index seems to capture well the compound effect of multiple climate drivers.{{cite journal | last1 = Muñoz | first1 = Á.G. | last2 = Díaz-Lobatón | first2 = J. | last3 = Chourio | first3 = X. | last4 = Stock | first4 = J. | year = 2016 | title = Seasonal prediction of lightning activity in Northwestern Venezuela: Large-scale versus local drivers | journal = Atmospheric Research | volume = 172–173 | pages = 147–162 | doi=10.1016/j.atmosres.2015.12.018| bibcode = 2016AtmRe.172..147M }}

There are several references by colonial Portuguese and Spanish sources, that name this phenomenon as "Lanterns of Saint Anthony" or the "Lighthouse of Maracaibo", as also noted by Alexander Walker in 1822.Walker, Alexander (1822). «Part 1». Colombia, relación geográfica, topográfica, agrícola Based on M. Palacios book "Viage de Varinas", Prussian naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt described the lightning in 1826.Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland, Viage a las Regiones Equinocciales del Nuevo Continente, volume 2, book V, chapter XVI, page 390, note, Casa de Rosa, Paris, 1826; Ediciones del Ministerio de Educación, 2a. ed., Caracas, 1956

Italian geographer Agustin Codazzi described it in 1841 as "like a continuous lightning, and its position such that, located almost on the meridian of the mouth of the lake, it directs the navigators as a lighthouse."Codazzi Agustín, Resumen de la Geografía de Venezuela, Fournier, Paris, 1841, pp. 20, 464 y 466.

File:Flag of Zulia State.svg

File:Escudo Estado Zulia.png

The phenomenon is represented on the flag and coat of arms of the state of Zulia, which also contains Lake Maracaibo, and is mentioned in the state's anthem. The phenomenon has been known for centuries as the "Lighthouse of Maracaibo", since it is visible for miles around Lake Maracaibo.{{cite journal |url=http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2010/02/lightning-up.html |title=Lightning Up, 4 Feb 2010 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040050 |publisher=Blogs.ngm.com |date=2002-10-17 |access-date=2013-02-08 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129014235/http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2010/02/lightning-up.html |archive-date=2012-01-29 |pmc=1363710 |last1=Nicholls |first1=H. |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=e50 |pmid=16464130 |doi-access=free }}

Some authors have misinterpreted a reference to a glow in the night sky in Lope de Vega's description in his epic, "La Dragontea" of the attack against San Juan de Puerto Rico by Sir Francis Drake as an early literary allusion to the lightning (since in another verse the poet does mention Maracaibo), but it was actually a reference to the glow produced by burning ships during the battle.{{cite web |url=https://cmcint.atavist.com/dislates-y-disparates-relampagos-catatumbo#chapter-1278423 |title=Dislates y Disparates sobre el Relámpago del Catatumbo: La expedición de Drake, de 1595 |trans-title=Nonsense about the Catatumbo Lightning: Drake's expedition of 1595 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103234021/https://cmcint.atavist.com/dislates-y-disparates-relampagos-catatumbo#chapter-1278423 |archive-date=November 3, 2016 |first=Ángel Vicente |last=Muñoz Garcia |work=Centro de Modelado Científico |date=July 2016 |location=Maracaibo |access-date=September 20, 2024 }}

• Hector (cloud)

{{Reflist}}

{{Commonscat}}

• [http://iri.columbia.edu/news/worlds-first-seasonal-lightning-forecast/ World's first seasonal lightning forecast]
• [http://www.stormchaser.ca/Lightning/Catatumbo/Catatumbo.html Storm Chaser George Kourounis Investigates the Catatumbo Lightning Phenomenon]
• [http://www.slate.com/articles/life/world_of_wonders/2011/02/an_everlasting_lightning_storm.html An Everlasting Lightning Storm], article at Slate.com
• [http://wwlln.net/ WWLLN] World Wide Lightning Location Network

{{coord|9|20|39|N|71|42|38|W|source:kolossus-plwiki|display=title|name=Approximate center}}

Category:Geography of Zulia

Category:Lightning

Category:Anomalous weather

Category:Regional climate effects

Category:Climate of Venezuela