For about eight months out of the year, Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo is home to some of the most epic storms on the planet. Thousands of lightning bolts flash across the sky nightly, with dozens visible every minute. The area even holds the Guinness World Record for the place with the highest concentration of lightning. The cause of this extreme electrical activity—known as Catatumbo lightning—is still being studied, but most experts agree that it has to do with geography. Lake Maracaibo is surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on the fourth, and when cool winds flowing over the mountains collide with humid air sweeping in from the Caribbean Sea, storms erupt. The phenomenon is named for the Catatumbo River, which enters the lake where the storms are most intense. Because the strikes happen in specific areas near the water, people who live close by generally take the lightning in stride and aren’t worried about getting hurt by it. All the action can be impressive to watch: “The first time I went there . . . it was overwhelming,” environmentalist Erik Quiroga told the BBC. “It was a beautiful show.”