Lake Maracaibo is not very deep, on average, it only has a depth of . Its biggest depth is . Its water is very warm, usually . During the day, a lot of water evaporates from the lake. At night, the air around the lake cools down faster than the air over the lake. This leads ot the formation of clouds. Because of the difference in temperature, thunderstorms are frequent. Large flocks of cattle graze in the area around the lake. Very often, they are hit by lightning. Lightning may also hit one of the many oil extraction facilities in the lake, which often catch fire. 