Top airports and towns in the U.S. struck by lightning in 2024 – Vaisala Xweather Annual Lightning Report is here

Vaisala

Press release

January 7, 2025

Top airports and towns in the U.S. struck by lightning in 2024 – Vaisala Xweather Annual Lightning Report is here

Some of the busiest airports in the U.S., like Orlando, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Atlanta International, are more likely to experience flight delays due to thunderstorm activity. Teague, Texas, is the U.S. lightning capital of the year, with 1,903 lightning events per square mile. Texas also tops the state chart with 40,434,603 lightning events in 2024.

, a global leader in measurement technology, has published its today. With unique data released each January since 2017, the report highlights the impact of lightning on people's lives in the previous year. This year's report reveals a total of 209,484,916 in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning events in the United States in 2024. The peak lightning day in the U.S. was May 22, with 3,164,435 lightning events, coinciding with significant outbreaks of thunderstorms, hail, and tornados in the central and eastern states during the month of May.

"There were 24 weather disasters costing more than a billion dollars in 2024 in the United States alone, of which 17 were severe storm outbreaks. Severe weather can be life-threatening, especially without the right safety measures in place. Knowing when severe weather happens, where the high-risk areas are, and building safety infrastructure can make all the difference, keeping people safe at home, getting from A to B on time, and making sure renewable energy keeps flowing into the electrical grid," says Ryan Said, Senior Lightning Scientist at Vaisala Xweather.

2024 Annual Lightning Report highlights

• Teague, Texas, is the 2024 Lightning Capital of the United States. Situated 85 miles southeast of Dallas in Freestone County, Teague saw 1,903 lightning events per square mile in 2024. Teague takes the top spot for Texas for the first time since 2021 when the town of Flatonia experienced 1,043 lightning events per square mile. Teague is followed by Orlando, Florida, with 1,072 lightning events per square mile, and Kingsland, Georgia, with 978 events in second and third place.
• The Lone Star State is the 2024 Lightning State of the U.S. Texas held on to its top spot, leading all other states with 40,434,603 total lightning events in 2024. This was more than the next three states – Florida (15,568,357), Oklahoma (13,610,926), and Kansas (10,963,205) – combined. While Texas always ranks high in lightning activity due to its sheer size and climate, the state saw 10% fewer lightning strikes compared with 2023.
• Love struck on February 14. Valentine's Day saw only one cloud-to-ground lightning event in the continental United States when lightning struck just north of Gold Beach, Oregon.
• Miami International Airport has the biggest risk of delays caused by lightning in the United States. Miami airport is closely followed by Orlando International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, with an average of 115, 109 and 64 hours under lightning warning per year over the past 10 years.
  
  
  
  Airports typically halt ground operations and move personnel and equipment to safety when lightning is detected within 5 miles of the airport. Work resumes when 10 minutes have elapsed with no further lightning activity in the area. This was used as the premise of the analysis in the report. However, each airport in the United States independently defines a safety margin for how close to its premises lightning can occur without affecting airport operations or flights due to safety concerns.

Lightning activity at the 10 busiest U.S. airports over the past 10 years

• Airports experience lightning at different times of day, affecting travel. While most of the country has a higher chance of lightning activity in the afternoon and evening, airports in the Midwest see more thunderstorms during the night and early morning. Additionally, states like Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana experience most of their lightning activity during the summer months of June, July, and August, while Texas usually sees more thunderstorms in spring. Travelers can reduce the risks of delays caused by thunderstorms by choosing airports and routes with lower lightning risk at their desired travel time.
• Wind farms attract lightning and can also cause it. Wind turbines are massive structures in relatively flat terrain, attracting lightning activity. The size and structure of wind turbines mean they also trigger lightning. This happens when a turbine produces upward lightning in response to a nearby naturally occurring lightning flash. Additionally, a turbine can self-initiate a lightning strike without a nearby thunderstorm. This happens when electrification in the air at low altitudes triggers lightning originating from the turbine, usually during cold-weather months. The report reviews 9 years of data to reveal the most lightning-prone U.S. wind farms. Taking the top spot, a wind farm in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, faces an average of 10 lightning strokes per turbine per year. One turbine at this location has been struck 111 times since 2019.

"Lightning affects the everyday lives of Americans, even if they don't live in areas with high activity. With more than 10 million flights taking off in the United States each year, delays from lightning can severely impact everyday travel. Additionally, delays cost the American economy in excess of $33 billion each year, so constant lightning detection and precise alerts are critical for getting planes off the ground while keeping travelers and ground personnel safe," Said continues.

The 2024 Annual Lightning Report leverages intelligence from the longest continuously operating and most scientifically validated lightning detection network in the world, Vaisala's U.S. National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), and the most comprehensive global lightning detection network, Vaisala's Global Lightning Dataset GLD360. Supported by more than four decades of unparalleled data history, detection accuracy, and analytical capabilities, the 2024 report is based on the most reliable source of global and local lightning data in the world.

Thunderstorms are caused by warm, moist air rising in the atmosphere and forming towering clouds where ice crystals, water droplets, and graupel collide and separate electric charge. The southeast and the southern United States provide the ideal conditions for thunderstorms to form because they are right next to the Gulf of Mexico. Due to their location, Texas and Florida are always at the top of lightning statistics. Conversely, California and the Pacific Northwest see few thunderstorms and lightning events.

###

More information for the media

Ryan Said, Senior Lightning Scientist, Vaisala Xweather

Niina Ala-Luopa, Head of Communications, Vaisala

Tel. 7

About Vaisala

Vaisala is a global leader in measurement instruments and intelligence for climate action. We equip our customers with devices and data to improve resource efficiency, drive energy transition, and care for the safety and well-being of people and societies worldwide. With almost 90 years of innovation and expertise, we employ a team of over 2,300 experts committed to taking every measure for the planet. Vaisala series A shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.

Vaisala Xweather brings weather confidence to decision-makers in every weather-sensitive business. By combining local sensor data with advanced AI predictions, we deliver precise and actionable weather insights. Vaisala Xweather transforms weather challenges into opportunities to optimize safety and efficiency while improving resilience against severe weather and climate change.

Attachments