Lightning Alley

Distribution

In the United States, the west coast has the fewest lightning strikes, while states such as Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma have the largest number of recorded lightning flashes as of 2025. In 2018, 14 Florida counties ranked in the top 15 counties in the United States for having the highest lightning density. Florida previously had the largest average number of recorded lightning strikes in the United States. Much of Florida is a peninsula, bordered by the ocean on three sides with a subtropical climate. The result is the nearly daily development of clouds that produce thunderstorms. For example, "Lightning Alley"—an area from Tampa to Orlando—experiences an extremely high density of lightning strikes. In 2007, there were as many as 50 strikes per square mile (about 20 per km) per year. In their 2018 Annual Lightning Report, Vaisala reported there were 24 strikes per square mile (about 9 per km) per year in Florida and as of 2025, AEM Weather (Advanced Environmental Monitoring) reports that Oklahoma experienced as many as 73 flashes per square mile (about 28 per km), the current highest in the country. Also notably, the Empire State Building in New York City is struck by lightning on average 23 times each year, and was once struck 8 times in 24 minutes.