Venezuela wins Guinness record for lightning

A Guinness record for the place with the most lightning has been given to an area in Venezuela that recorded 3,600 flashes per hour.

The certification was handed out on Tuesday by Guinness Book of World Records representative Johanna Hessling.

The natural phenomenon in the northwestern state of Zulia is called the Catatumbo Lightning, which generates myriad electrical storms from April to November at the mouth of the River Catatumbo, at the southern end of Lake Maracaibo.

The numbers of lightning bolts are remarkable, an estimated 18 to 60 per minute, up to 3,600 per hour and 1.2 million a year, with each flash packing enough energy to light up 100 million light bulbs, according to the Agencia Venezolana de Noticias.

Venezuelan Vice President Jorge Arreaza received the certificate from the Guinness representatives.

The phenomenon was proposed to Guinness last year by a Venezuelan environmentalist named Erick Quiroga, who has been monitoring the lightning for 17 years.