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Axios
02-06-2025
- Climate
- Axios
How and where Utahns get struck by lightning
Central Utah is the most lightning-prone part of the state, per weather data firm Vaisala Xweather. Why it matters: Summer thunderstorm season famously sparks wildfires — but a lot of people have been hurt or killed by direct or nearby lightning strikes in Utah. By the numbers: Sanpete County led the state for ground strikes in 2024, with nearly 22 per square mile. That number was 20 in Sevier County. Most of the country has fewer than 100 ground strikes per square mile, but there are hundreds in some counties in the southeast. Walker County, Texas, had about 825 strikes per square mile. The intrigue: Most lightning injuries — about 90%, per the CDC — aren't fatal, but they're still terrifying. Victims describe long recoveries, physical disabilities and PTSD. Utah tied for the 16th-most fatalities in the past decade, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. Here are some of the circumstances in which Utahns have been hurt or killed by lightning. Many here involved storms that appeared and disappeared quickly in areas where shelter wasn't readily available. August 2024: An Ogden man died after lightning struck a boat in which he was fishing in the Bear River. His brother and friend suffered lightning exit wounds but survived. August 2024: A man was landscaping his yard in SLC when he saw the blue-white flash of lightning. He told KSL-TV that "gibberish" came out of his mouth when he tried to speak and that he experienced pain for days. June 2024: 50 kids in a church youth group felt a shock when lightning struck the ground near where they were hiking in eastern Sevier County. At least one hiker was carrying an umbrella, which appeared to attract a bolt. Seven were taken to hospitals by ambulance. One teen compared the strike to being hit in the head by a baseball bat. Another said it was like being crushed by bricks. June 2020: A man was knocked unconscious when lightning struck behind him while he was hiking near Eagle Mountain. February 2018: A golfer in St. George suffered burns on 20% of his body when a lightning bolt hit him and set him "on fire," a friend said. August 2017: Three sisters, ages 3, 6 and 7, were fishing at Lilly Lake in the Uinta Mountains when lightning struck them. July 2016: A 14-year-old girl was killed and her stepmother was injured when their jet ski was hit by lightning at Flaming Gorge as they tried to return to the dock due to a sudden storm.
Axios
30-05-2025
- Climate
- Axios
Here's how often lightning strikes in Austin
After multiple storms swept through Austin this week, we're looking at how often lightning strikes around Central Texas. Why it matters: Aside from the immediate danger to people, aircraft and infrastructure, lightning can spark wildfires — and the number of strikes is predicted to increase amid climate change, researchers have found. By the numbers: Texas is one of America's lightning capitals, as it's home to all of the top 10 U.S. counties ranked by lightning strikes per square mile in 2024, per weather data firm Vaisala Xweather. Walker County had about 825 strikes per square mile in 2024; Limestone County had 811; and Madison County had 795. All are along or close to I-45 between Houston and Dallas. Yes, but: Things aren't as scary in Travis County, where there were about 145 strikes per square mile last year. Reality check: Still, that's more than 150,000 strikes in Travis County in 2024. One strike caused a house fire in North Austin this month, per CBS Austin. No one was injured. Austin-area fire departments also responded to at least a pair of house fires sparked by lightning in a single night in March, per KXAN. No injuries were reported in those incidents, either. Between the lines: Texas' lightning hotspot status isn't random — it's more prone to strikes as a result of consistent storms tied to its climate and geography. How it works: Vaisala Xweather's data comes from sensors that use radio waves to detect and triangulate lightning strikes, with a claimed median accuracy of 84 meters (just under 300 feet).
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Newsflash! This Texas city is the lightning capital of the US. See where it strikes most
From earthquakes and tornadoes to hurricanes and snow, Texas has weather variations as wide as the state itself. So perhaps it's not so shocking that the Lone Star State is also home to the U.S. lightning capital. Vaisala Xweather, a Finnish company offering products and services for industrial and environmental measurements, has released a report on 2024 lightning events around the world. In its analysis, Vaisala defined "lightning events" as individual pulses within in-cloud flashes as well as individual strokes within cloud-to ground flashes. If Texas doesn't strike you as a very en-lightning place, think again. Before you bolt, check out the electrifying findings of Vaisala's analysis. With 735 lightning events per square kilometer in 2024, the city of Teague claimed the title of lightning capital of the country. Teague had nearly as many events as the states with the second and third most combined: Orlando, Florida had 414 events and Kingsland, Georgia had 377. In all, the world recorded 2,227,370,623 lightning events, with around 9.4% (209,484,916) in the U.S. Nearly three-quarters of all events in 2024 occurred over land. You read that right — not only did the Lone Star State have the highest lightning count in the country, it had more than the second, third and fourth states combined. Texas had a flashy 40 million lightning events in 2024. Florida trailed (far, far) behind Texas with 15 million lightning events, followed (much more closely) by Oklahoma with 13 million. Texas had four times more lightning than the fourth-ranked state, Kansas. The seven states with the most lightning events accounted for the majority (over 50%) of the country's lightning. Meanwhile, the 14 states with the least claimed less than 1% of all lightning in the U.S. The five states with the highest lightning counts are as follows: Texas - 40M Florida - 15M Oklahoma - 13M Kansas - 10M Louisiana - 9M There's a striking disclaimer to be made here: Texas is a big state in terms of land — the second biggest by area after Alaska. It then makes sense to get more light shows than smaller states. With this in mind, Vaisala also calculated lightning density. Data was gathered on how many lightning events occurred per square kilometer within each state. And while the Lone Star State remained in the top five, the playing field evened considerably. At the top of the list with 91 lightning events was Florida, 184 times more than Alaska, the third-fewest. Twenty states had more than 20 events per square kilometer in 2024. Mississippi, which consistently ranked fourth in lightning density from 2016 to 2023, dropped to 10th on last year's list. The five states with the highest lightning density are as follows: Florida - 91 events per km² Oklahoma - 75 events per km² Louisiana - 71 events per km² Arkansas - 63 events per km² Texas - 58 events per km² Unlike the states with the highest lightning counts, the size of states had less influence on those with the fewest lightning counts. Instead, location was a significant factor. Although Rhode Island is about five times smaller than Hawaii, the northeastern state had over three times as many lightning events. In fact, when measuring lightning density, Hawaii had fewer events per square kilometer than any other state. This is largely due to its location in the Pacific Ocean: The National Weather Service reports the cluster of islands sees fewer thunderstorms, lightning, hail, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and droughts than the continental states. When Hawaii does get such phenomena, they also tend to be less severe. Least lighting count District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) - 2,361 Hawaii - 3,003 Rhode Island - 10,256 Washington - 76,841 New Hampshire - 87,716 Least lightning density Hawaii - 0.2 events per km² Washington - 0.4 events per km² Alaska - 0.5 events per km² California - 0.6 events per km² Oregon - 0.8 events per km² This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lightning struck Texas more than any other state in 2024, data shows
