Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A massive lightning bolt that stretched from eastern Texas to just outside of Kansas City, Mo., has been officially recognized as the largest recorded flash by the World Meteorological Organization.
The lightning bolt was generated by a major cluster of thunderstorms that swept over the Great Plains on Oct. 22, 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday. Researchers used advanced satellite technology to capture the flash's enormous span, and they hope it will help them better understand how lightning affects people.
Despite the bolt having a horizontal distance of 515 miles, it was not identified in the original analysis of the thunderstorm and researchers took note of it during a recent re-examination, according to NOAA.
The World Meteorological Organization's Committee on Weather and Climate Extremes used NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, the most advanced satellite technology available, to verify the length of the flash and recognize it as a new record, according to a press release from the organization.
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