Great Plains
| Use attributes for filter ! | |
| Area | 13 |
|---|---|
| Locations | Canada |
| the United States | |
| Coordinates | 37°N 97°W / 37°N 97°W Coordinates: 37°N 97°W / 37°N 97°W |
| Length | 3,200 km (2,000 mi) |
| Did you know | At least 250,000 people fled the Plains. |
| Date of Reg. | |
| Date of Upd. | |
| ID | 1240358 |
About Great Plains
The Great Plains is a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland, located in America and Canada. It lies west of the Mississippi River tallgrass prairie in the United States and east of the Rocky Mountains in the U. S. and Canada.
Almost 500-mile-long lightning bolt crossed three US states
... According to the WMO, both records took place in areas prone to intense storms that produce megaflashes , namely the Great Plains region of the United States and the La Plata basin of South America s southern cone...
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... It s unusual for the Great Plains and Midwest, he notes, to see this number of repeated strong storms and severe weather in one spring...
Polar vortex brings deadly cold snap to US states
... How is the cold snap affecting daily life? The US Postal Service has called a halt to mail deliveries in parts of 10 states in the Great Plains and Midwest...
Almost 500-mile-long lightning bolt crossed three US states
An almost 500-mile long bolt of lightning that lit up the sky across three US states has set a new World Record for longest flash, scientists have confirmed.
The Lightning Bolt , extended a total of 477. 2 miles (768 km) and spread across Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.
The previous record was 440. 6 miles (709 km) and recorded in Brazil in 2018.
Lightning rarely extends over 10 miles and usually lasts under a second.
Another lightning flash recorded in 2020 - in Uruguay and Argentina - has also set a new record for duration at 17. 1 seconds. The previous record was 16. 7 Seconds .
" These are extraordinary records from lightning flash events, " Professor Randall Cerveny, the WMO's rapporteur of weather and climate extremes, said.
According to the WMO, both records took place in areas prone to intense storms that produce 'megaflashes', namely the Great Plains region of the United States and the La Plata basin of South America 's southern cone.
Professor Cerveny added that greater extremes are likely to exist and are likely to be recorded in The Future thanks to advances in space-based lightning detection technology.
The WMO warned that lightning was a hazard and urged people in both regions and around The World to take caution during storms.
" These extremely large and long-duration lightning events were not isolated but happened during active thunderstorms, " lightning specialist Ron Holle said in a WMO statement.
" Any time there is thunder heard, it is time to reach a lightning-Safe place".
Previously accepted WMO 'lightning extremes' include a 1975 incident in which 21 people were killed by a single flash of a lightning as they huddled inside a tent in Zimbabwe.
In another incident, 469 people were killed when lightning struck The Egyptian town of Dronka in 1994, causing burning oil to flood The Town .
The WMO notes that the only lightning-Safe locations are " substantial" buildings with wiring and plumbing, rather than structures such as Bus Stops or those found at beaches.
Fully enclosed metal-topped vehicles are also considered reliably Safe .
Source of news: bbc.com
Great Plains Photos
