After Four Corners, Florida–in the Kissimmee area–was crowned the lightning capital of the United States in 2022, the most frequently struck place moved a little south in 2023.
What You Need To Know
- The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area saw the most lightning flashes in 2023
- Over 242 million flashes were recorded across the U.S. in 2023
- The global lightning count was over two billion
The Finnish company Vaisala tracks lightning strikes globally every year using a lightning detection network.
They found that the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area had the most total lightning (in-cloud and cloud-to-ground) of any metro in the U.S. with 120,998 flashes in 2023.
Florida led the country in lightning density (lightning events per square kilometer), followed by Mississippi and Louisiana.
Texas had the most total lightning of any state, tallying over 42 million flashes.
June 14 was the most lightning-active day in the U.S. in 2023, with more than 3.6 million flashes.
While somewhere in Florida is often the lightning capital of the United States, it is not the most struck place in the world.
Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela is considered the lightning capital of the world, with an average of 233 lightning strikes per square kilometer per year, according to NASA.
Global lightning density in 2023. (Vaisala/Xweather)
You can see Vaisala's full report here.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories,check out our weather blogs section.
