Electrifying America's greatest wonder: Photographer captures incredible moment ferocious lightning bolt hits the Grand Canyon

Using low exposure techniques, photographer Rolf Maeder managed to capture multiple strikes hitting the canyon under atmospheric skies for the photo titled 'Night of Lightning at Grand Canyon.

Mr Maeder specialises in taking photos of wide-ranging landscapes. He told National Geographic Magazine: 'It was such a wonderful experience to witness this beautiful thunderstorm far across the Grand Canyon.'

In his blog, Photography Sedona, he wrote: 'The raw power of it thrilled me equally as much as the fragility and simplicity in a picture of a seagull flying with the ocean gusts.

'Scott Stulberg, Holly Kehrt and I decided to do a sunset trip to the Grand Canyon, a two hour drive from Sedona. The evening and sunset was very hazy. So we decided soon to return home, taking it slow and visiting some more viewpoints.

'And then, at the Moran Point, we could enjoy this incredible lightning storm emerging at the east end of the canyon.'

Gloomy: Grey clouds gather over the Grand Canyon as lightning starts to strike in the distance next to a break in the clouds

Backdrop: Rolf Maeder used low exposure techniques to capture multiple strikes, which are caused by humid conditions in late summer

According to the National Park Service, Grand Canyon National Park alone averages more than 26,000 lightning strikes per year.

The lightning strikes are a probable result of the late summer North American Monsoon, where storms can be seen every day in a variety of locations across the area.

The monsoon delivers waves of moisture from the southeast, causing dramatic, localised thunderstorms fueled by high temperatures.

The other time the area receives showers is during winter when Pacific storms deliver widespread showers and snow at the highest points

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and is of over a mile. Nearly two billion years of the Earth's geological history has been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layers of rock while the Colorado Plateau was lifted.

Recent evidence suggests the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since then, the Colorado River has continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.

Before the storm: Rolf Maeder took some stunning shots of the floor of the canyon and its surrounding walls before the lightning bolts arrived

Clouds gathering: The gloomy sky starts to form over the Grand Canyon as late summer conditions begin create variable weather over Nevada

Dusk: Photographer Rolf Maeder captures a glimpse of the sun before it drops over the horizon