Lightning bolt stretching 477 miles over 3 U.S. states sets world record: "Absolutely extraordinary"

A bolt of lightning that stretched nearly 500 miles across three U.S. states is the new world record holder for longest flash.

The single flash extended 477.2 miles across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in April 2020, the World Meteorological Organization  said Tuesday. That beat the old record set in 2018 in Brazil of 440.6 miles.

Also in 2020, a single lightning flash over Uruguay and northern Argentina lasted 17.1 seconds, nipping the old time record of 16.7 seconds.