NASA Just Named This Lake Earth's Lightning Capital

Impact

NASA just named a lake in Venezuela the lightning capital of the world.

It's called Lake Maracaibo — and on good nights, lighting strikes there thousands of times per hour.

"Lake Maracaibo has a unique geography and climatology that is ideal for the development of thunderstorms," University of Alabama in Huntsville research scientist Dennis Buechler told NASA.

It's the largest lake in South America and the host of an average 297 night thunderstorms per year.

Some call it the "everlasting storm."

Take a look at these 6 photos:

The lightning that strikes Lake Maracaibo is bright enough to be seen from a 250-mile distance — old tales suggest colonial sailors used it to navigate. 

Not sure where Lake Maracaibo is? Check it out on the map here.

Photo credits, in order of images: ThechemicalengineerRuzhugo27Ben/CC by 2.0, Flickr/Fernando FloresRuzhugo27, Jorge Silva