The Everlasting Lightning of Catatumbo

Whoever said, “lightning never strikes twice,” never visited Lake Maracaibo, located on the eastern side of Venezuela. First mentioned in “La Dragontea” by the Spanish poet Lope de Vega, the meteorological phenomenon known as Catatumbo lightning has captivated sailors for centuries, garnering its title as the “Lighthouse of Catatumbo.”

The powerful bolts of thunder strike at a rate of 28 times a minute for up to 10 hours at a time. There were a few months in 2010 when the lightning disappeared, but since then it has continued to appear at least 300 days a year. Lake Maracaibo is surrounded by the Andes, the Perijá Mountains and Mérida’s Cordillera, which spill cold air down into the valley to meet with warm trade winds coming in from the Caribbean. The mixture condenses into powerful thunderclouds, which release lightning strikes from five kilometers in the sky.

Two Spanish attacks have been thwarted by the storm, one by Sir Francis Drake in 1595 (described in “La Dragontea”) and another in 1823 during the Venezuelan War of Independence. Both times the storm revealed ships before they could launch a surprise attack on the mainland, though today Lake Maracaibo welcomes thousands of visitors who are entranced by the lightning’s beauty.