Florida and Texas topped the list for experiencing most lightening strikes in 2018, according to new research.
Though Florida is nicknamed the Sunshine State, it is notorious for thunderstorms and had the highest flash density per square mile, at 9.34.
Texas, however had the most cloud-to-ground flash count in 2018 at 2,483,805, while Florida came in second with 1,385,710 lightning strikes.
Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska made up the rest of the top five with a combined flash count of 2,776,704, just a little over Texas's year count alone.
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Florida and Texas topped the list for experiencing most lightening strikes in 2018, according to new research. Though Florida is nicknamed the Sunshine State, it is notorious for thunderstorms. Here, space shuttle Discovery is seen on the Launch Pad in Florida with a roiling storm visible in the background (stock image)
Vaisala is a global lightning detection network, that monitor total lightning activity, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They released their figures at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Phoenix this week
Using data from its National Lightning Detection Network, environmental measurement specialist Vaisala, based in Finland, released its Annual Lightning Report.
They released their figures at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Phoenix this week.
According to these figures, lightning strikes actually decreased to 17.8 million during 2018, 11 per cent lower than the ten-year average.
'This marks the third-fewest flashes in the last 10 years and a 1.9 million flash decrease from the 2009 - 2018 average of 19,728,634 lightning flashes across the U.S. annually,' said a spokesman for Vaisala in a statement.
The likely reason for the reduction is that there were fewer big storms, according to Ryan Said, a lightning expert at Vaisala.
'Specifically, there were fewer days with very strong air mass contrasts across the Central Plains and Upper Midwest during the spring and summer of 2018, which contributes to the severe weather season,' he added.
Texas had the most cloud-to-ground flash count in 2018 at 2,483,805, while Florida came in second with 1,385,710 lightning strikes. Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska made up the rest of the top five. Pictured, a cloud-to-cloud bolt shoots from this tornadic supercell in Pampa, Texas (stock image)
