Video of Spider Web Lightning Striking Volcano Goes Viral

A stunning video of spider-web lightning striking a volcano in Guatemala in what almost appears to be a spectacular firework display has gone viral online.

The impressive display of lightning struck close to the Acatenango volcano, close to the city of Antigua, southwest of the capital Guatemala City, and was captured on camera by Derrick Steele.

While the lightning strike happened in July, the clip recently went viral on social media with Newsweek finding numerous videos receiving more than 100,000 views each.

A video of the unique lightning formation shared in an August 18 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, by AccuWeather received more than 1.4 million views.

It captioned the video: "This isn't an optical illusion. The Acatenango volcano in Guatemala does produce volcanic lightning."

Describing a case of spider lightning in 2018, the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service said: "These extensive lightning flashes often simultaneously strike the ground in multiple places miles apart. They also are known to trigger upward lightning from tall objects."

It continued: "These flashes are called spider lightning due to the pattern they create when they quickly creep and crawl from one cloud to another. These long, horizontally traveling flashes can be seen from Earth below the clouds when they are especially strong and bright."

According to the Federal Office of Metrology and Climatology of Switzerland, the regions with the most lightning are located between the equator and the northern and southern 38th parallels.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., about 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground across the country each year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added: "Although lightning affects all regions in the United States, the southeastern states are most at risk. Lightning generally decreases from the southeast to the northwest, except for a few places, such as the Rocky Mountains, where thunderstorms occur regularly during the summer.

"Florida, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have the most lightning deaths and injuries. Florida is considered the "lightning capital" of the country, with more than 2,000 lightning injuries over the past 50 years."

The CDC added that the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are less than one in a million and that nearly 90 percent of all lightning strike victims survive.

It said the odds of being struck multiple times are even less, with the record being seven times in one lifetime.

The CDC continued: "There are some factors that can put you at greater risk for being struck, such as participating in outdoor recreational activities or working outside. Regional and seasonal differences can also affect your risk of being struck by lightning."

Newsweek has contacted the National Weather Service for comment via email.