Florida, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have the most lightning deaths and injuries.
The most lightning-struck location in the world
Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the place on Earth that receives the most lightning strikes. Massive thunderstorms occur on 140-160 nights per year with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute lasting up to 10 hours at a time.
Remember the phrase, “When thunder roars, go indoors.” Find a safe, enclosed shelter when you hear thunder. Safe shelters include homes, offices, shopping centers, and hard-top vehicles with the windows rolled up. Seek shelter immediately, even if caught out in the open.
Of the capital cities, Darwin is Australia's stormiest capital city, experiencing around 54 lighting pulses per square kilometre per year. This is followed by Brisbane (26), Sydney (18), Canberra (16), Melbourne (8), Perth (4), Adelaide (3) and Hobart (1).
Lightning is a major cause of storm related deaths in the U.S. A lightning strike can result in a cardiac arrest (heart stopping) at the time of the injury, although some victims may appear to have a delayed death a few days later if they are resuscitated but have suffered irreversible brain damage.
Risk Factors for Lightning Strikes
A UQ mathematician, Professor Peter Adams, calculated that Australians have a 1 in 12,000 chance of being struck by lightning, which is more than 650 times the chance of winning the Lotto, which is one in eight million.
The electricity that does enters a person's body can cause devastating neurological damage, including memory loss, chronic pain and seizures in addition to the relatively superficial burns on the outside of someone's skin. About 10% of people struck by lightning are killed.
The peak frequency is in the vicinity of Darwin, with over 80 thunder-days a year.
The North and South Poles and the areas over the oceans have the fewest lightning strikes.
Florida has often claimed the title of "Lightning Capital of the United States." According to a new annual report released by Vaisala, 2022 was no different. Four Corners, Fla. has been designated the area with the highest number of lightning events per square mile.
Lightning can jump through windows, so keep your distance from them during storms! The second way lightning can enter a building is through pipes or wires. If the lightning strikes utility infrastructure, it can travel through those pipes or wires and enter your home that way.
Lightning can travel 10 to 12 miles from a thunderstorm. This is often farther than the sound of thunder travels. That means that if you can hear thunder you are close enough to a storm to be in danger of being struck by lightning.
Like trees, houses, and people, anything outside is at risk of being struck by lightning when thunderstorms are in the area, including cars. The good news though is that the outer metal shell of hard-topped metal vehicles does provide protection to those inside a vehicle with the windows closed.
Whether inside or outside, anyone in contact with anything connected to metal wires, plumbing, or metal surfaces that extend outside is at risk. This includes anything that plugs into an electrical outlet, water faucets and showers, corded phones, and windows and doors.
The odds that one will be struck by lightning in the U.S. during one's lifetime are 1 in 15,300. On average, 270 people in the U.S. are struck per year, and only about 10 percent of that number die from the event.
But these are tiny groups considering the nation's population numbers over 300 million and there are over 25 million lightning strikes in the US per year, the weather service says. It's also worth noting 90% of lightning strike victims survive.
Lightning can strike anyone, but certain groups may be more at risk. Almost 1 out of 4 lightning strike victims are aged 15 through 24.
Are there any areas of our planet where thunder and lightning have not been known to occur? This planet's only thunderstorm-free locations would be areas close to both poles — the interior of the Arctic Ocean and the interior of Antarctica.
And lightning almost never strikes the north or south poles. These are just a few of the things NASA scientists have learned using satellites to monitor worldwide lightning.
The city of Perth has the best weather/climate in Australia. The city enjoys a temperate Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and mild but wet winters. Perth is also the sunniest capital city in Australia and is considered one of the hottest experiencing over 250+ days of sunny blue skies.
The peak frequency is in the vicinity of Darwin, with over 80 thunder-days a year.
Aside from internal injuries, lightning strikes can burn the body. Some of these burns resemble Lichtenberg figures, which are wavy lines or skin lesions that look like ferns. Other long-term effects can include seizures, muscle spasms, memory loss, and cataracts from the bright flash.
If your hair stands on end, lightning is about to strike you. Drop to your knees and bend forward but don't lie flat on the ground. Wet ground is a good conductor of electricity.
Dr. Griggs says if a person is struck by lightning, it can cause cardiac arrest, which stops a person's body from circulating blood and cause direct injury to the brain and nervous system, preventing the brain from being able to send the appropriate signals to tell the body to continue breathing.