Catatumbo lightning, Sierra Nevada National Park

Catatumbo lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. Catatumbo means "House of Thunder" in the language of the Bari people. It originates from a mass of storm clouds at an altitude of more than 1 km, and occurs during 140 to 160 nights a year, nine hours per day, and from 16 to 40 times per minute. It occurs over and around Lake Maracaibo, typically over a bog area formed where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake. ()