Catatumbo lightning, Venezuela

You will often be scared by the lightning in the sky. You would like to be at home during such storms. But if this storm comes 280 times in an hour then what will you do? Venezuela is a place where there is a strong storm of lightning throughout the year. Yes, It is completely true that Venezuela is experiencing lightning storms throughout the year. This storm is famous by the name of Catatumbo Lightning. Catatumbo lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon in Venezuela. It occurs only over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo. This phenomenon has been popularly known for centuries as the Lighthouse of Maracaibo, since it is visible for miles around Lake Maracaibo. This storm comes due to certain environmental factors, when the wind rising from the Maracaibo lake and surrounding plains collides with the high ridges of Andes or Andean Mountains, then there is an incident of lightning. 

It is important to have heat and moisture in the air for lightning storms, and all these factors are present in the wind rising from Maracaibo Lake. It originates from a mass of storm clouds at a height of more than 1 km, and occurs during 260 nights a year, 10 hours per day and up to 280 times per hour. It occurs over and around Lake Maracaibo, typically over the bog area formed where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake. There is so much brightness in the lightning shines over this lake that it is visible from a distance of 400 kilometers. Here the lightning events are reduced in the months of January and February. But in May and October, the lightning events increases a lot. The lightning produces a great quantity of ozone though its instability makes it dubious that it has any effect on the ozonosphere. According to the research done by scientists, methane produced by the swamps and the oil deposits in the area as a major cause of this phenomenon. Therefore more lightning flashes in the sky. But in the world there are many places where methane quantity is high, but there is no such phenomenon like lightning.