Summer is heating up across the U.S., with the rising temperatures frequently bringing summer storms along for the ride. While the warmer weather can increase the risk of everything from hurricanes to landslides in certain parts of the country, there's one summer phenomenon that affects all 50 states, and have deadly consequences: lightning. According to the National Lightning Safety Council, approximately 70 percent of lightning fatalities take place in June, July, and August, with fishing, beach activities, camping, boating, and yard work associated with the greatest number of lightning-related deaths between 2006 and 2019.
Though thunderstorms are common across the U.S., certain states have significantly higher rates of lightning strikes than others. According to a 2020 report published by the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network, in 2019, Texas had 16,032,609 in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, the highest number of any state in the country, with Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, Colorado, and New Mexico rounding out the top 10.
However, there's one state in particular that has been dubbed the "lightning capital" of the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Florida. The CDC reports that the Sunshine State has seen a staggering 2,000 lightning injuries in the past 50 years—more than any other state—as well as over 5.2 million cloud-to-cloud or cloud-to-ground strikes hitting the state in 2019 alone.
That said, with an estimated 90 percent of lightning strike victims surviving their injuries, the states with the most lightning strikes and the most lightning fatalities are not always one and the same. If you want to gauge your risk, read on to discover which U.S. states and territories have the highest number of fatal lightning strikes, according to data from the Lightning Safety Council.
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52 Wyoming
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
51 Washington
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
50 Rhode Island
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
49 New Hampshire
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
48 Nevada
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
47 Nebraska
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
46 Maryland
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
45 Maine
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
44 Hawaii
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
43 Washington D.C.
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
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42 Delaware
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
41 Alaska
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
40 Idaho
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
39 Connecticut
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 0
38 West Virginia
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 1
37 Vermont
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 1
36 Puerto Rico
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 1
35 Oregon
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 1
34 Oklahoma
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 1
33 North Dakota
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 1
32 Virginia
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 2
31 South Dakota
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 2
30 Montana
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 2
29 Minnesota
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 2
28 Massachusetts
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 2
27 Iowa
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 2
26 New Mexico
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 3
25 Kansas
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 3
24 Indiana
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 3
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23 Tennessee
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 4
22 Kentucky
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 4
21 Illinois
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 4
20 Wisconsin
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 5
19 South Carolina
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 5
18 New Jersey
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 5
17 Mississippi
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 5
16 Michigan
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 5
15 California
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 5
14 Utah
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 6
13 Ohio
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 6
12 New York
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 6
11 Arkansas
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 6
10 Georgia
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 7
9 Louisiana
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 8
8 Pennsylvania
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 9
7 Missouri
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 10
6 Colorado
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 10
5 North Carolina
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 12
4 Arizona
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 12
3 Alabama
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 14
2 Texas
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 22
1 Florida
Number of lightning deaths from 2011-2020: 49
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Sarah Crow Sarah Crow is a senior editor at Eat This, Not That!, where she focuses on celebrity news and health coverage. Read moreFiled UnderSafety • SummerRead This NextNever Touch This One Thing in Your Car During a Storm
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