Severe Weather

Although, Venezuela is known for having extreme rain in the country especially during October and November it was rare for droughts to occur. However in 2016, Venezuela suffered from a severe drought that greatly affected the country when it came to water, food and even electricity. The drought conditions forced down the water level at the Guri dam (depicted above). The Guri dam is a hydroelectrical station that provides 75% of the power for the capital of Venezuela. During the drought the water conditions in the Guri dam were lower than 245 meters which is lower than the minimum to operate 8 turbines. Recently during spring of this year, there were drought concerns again in Venezuela but it did not happen

An interesting atmospheric phenomenon that occurs in Venezuela are Catatumbo lighting. It occurs at the mouth of the Catatumbo river and it empties out into Lake Maracaibo. For about 200 to 300 days a year, the lightning almost never stops and produces an average of 28 strikes of lightning per minute for up to 10 hours at a time. The lightning storms is predictable because it occurs at the exact same place and the exact same time, every time, an hour after dusk almost everyday.


References:
Venezuela Drought
Catatumbo Lightning