Lightning is not a common occurrence that happens in the winter months across the Northern Hemisphere. Spring and summer thunderstorms bring a much higher chance for tall storms to develop, which form lightning. The arrival of winter allows meteorologists to analyze the previous seasons and see if there are any “new lightning capitals”.

There are many places in the world where lightning hits frequently. The most active region, where the most lightning strikes happen, is in the oil-filled Maracaibo Lake in Venezuela, where impressive thunderstorms happen between 140 to 160 nights annually and on average these thunderstorms produce 28 lightning strikes per minute!

Central Florida has taken the win throughout the years, on average, for the U.S. region where the most lightning strikes hit. In the area from Tampa to Orlando, along the I-4 corridor, summers are very busy with thunderstorms.

The sea breezes from each coast are sparked by the intense summer heat, developing big and strong (and often severe) storms that move inland. Once all their energy is worn out, meaning the sun starts to set, these storms wind down and the showers move back to the coasts. This happens frequently from June through late September.

Meteorologists have gone deeper in studying lightning variations throughout the United States and counted lightning strikes closely every year. In recent years, most lightning strikes have hit the Central Plains of the United States.

For example, in 2020, there were 170 million total lightning events across the United States, this is about 52 million fewer than in 2019. Texas took the number one spot with the most total lightning in 2020 with almost 34 million strikes.

The U.S. recorded over 194 million lightning strikes in 2021. Texas, once again, took the number one spot where the most lightning strikes hit with almost 42 million strikes. This year, Vaisala, the company analyzing the lightning strikes in the United States, determined that there were over 2 million acres burned by wildfires that were triggered by lightning strikes.

Specifically, Flatonia, Tx., is the city with the most lightning in 2021 per square miles, 1,043 strikes to be exact. The second city with the most lightning events per square mile was a city just northeast of Orlando, Florida, called Geneva. There were 857 lightning events recorded there.

On the other hand, Kalihiwai, Hawaii, had the lowest lightning density with 17 lightning events per square mile.