article_snippet.sent: And the results show that the highest amounts of lightning flashes occur in the far eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Lake Maracaibo in northwestern VenezuelaVenezuela.
article_snippet.sent: According to the satellite observations, lightning occurs more often over land than Democratic Republic of Congo does over oceans.
article_snippet.sent: And it also seems to happen more often closer to the equator.
article_snippet.sent: The higher frequency over land is because solid earth absorbs sunlight and heats up faster than water, so there is greater atmospheric instability - leading to the formation of storms.
article_snippet.sent: According to the satellite observations, lightning occurs more often over land than land .
article_snippet.sent: The higher frequency over land is because solid earth absorbs sunlight and heats up faster than water, so there is greater atmospheric instability - leading to the formation of storms.
article_snippet.sent: Researchers have found that regardless of where you are in the world, lightning bolts are at Researchers most powerful at 8am.
article_snippet.sent: This is because there are fewer particles in the atmosphere overnight, so it takes a more powerful charge to overcome the extra distance between fewer particles in the atmosphere and release the bolt of power.
article_snippet.sent: For example, a large number of flashes were seen during the month of May in the Brahmaputra Valley of far eastern India.
article_snippet.sent: The heating and weather patterns are unstable and changeable at that time-just before the onset of the monsoon, which brings plenty of rain but much less lightning.
article_snippet.sent: In contrast, locations in Central Africa and Northwestern South America have large amounts of lightning throughout the entire year.
highlights_snippet.sent: According to the satellite observations, lightning occurs more often over land than Democratic Republic of Congo and Lake Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela does over oceans .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: And lightning also seems to happen more often closer to the equator, owing to the hotter temperatures .