Mystery

Catatumbo Lightning is a unique weather phenomenon that occurs in the south of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, named Catatumbo River.

This phenomenon is characterized by almost continuous lightning and silent (especially by large distances), which is produced in clouds of large vertical electrical arcing between 2 and 10 km in height (or more), as the trade winds penetrate the surface of the lake in the afternoon (when evaporation is greater) and are forced to climb the mountain system of Perijá (of 3,750 m) and Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuelan Andes branch (of 5,000 m, approximately). The origin of this phenomenon is in the orographic effect of these ridges that enclose and restrain the northeast winds produce a cloud of great vertical development, mainly concentrated in the Catatumbo River basin. This phenomenon is easy to see from hundreds of miles away, ie from the lake itself (where no clouds usually occur at night) so it is also known as the Lighthouse of Maracaibo, as the boats that plied the area could navigate at night without problems at the time of sailing. It has an annual occurrence of 140 to 160 nights or more, lasting up to 10 hours per night and produces up to 280 downloads per hour. In addition, these thunderstorms produce a high percentage of all ozone generated worldwide as Catatumbo lightning can be seen as a major individual regenerative earth's ozone layer, producing approximately 1,176,000 downloads atmospheric electricity. The origin of the formation of ozone is found in the ionization of atmospheric gases with intense electric shock.