Lightning damage in the U.S.: fatalities and injuries 2022 | Statista (2024)

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Lightning damage in the U.S.: fatalities and injuries 2022 | Statista? ›

In 2022, there were a total of 19 fatalities and 53 injuries reported due to lighting in the United States. In the previous year, there were 11 deaths and 69 injuries reported due to lightning nationwide.

During 2022, the National Lightning Safety Council documented 19 lightning fatalities in the United States and its territories. The 19 fatalities were a result of 15 incidents which occurred on 13 days.

Geography also plays a role in some areas with mountainous terrain will often experience more lightning strikes than surrounding lower elevation areas. Though likely underestimated, in the United States there are approximately 400 lighting injuries and 40 deaths annually.

Excessive heat claimed an average of 158 lives per year in the U.S. from 1992 through 2021, according to NOAA. That's higher than the average annual death tolls from flooding (88), tornadoes (71), hurricanes or tropical storms (45) and lightning (37) in that 30-year period.

The death of Colorado rancher Mike Morgan was the first lightning fatality in Colorado since 2020, when a woman was struck while walking her dog in Durango. It was also the first known lightning fatality in the nation in 2024, according to the National Weather Service.

Florida, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have the most lightning deaths and injuries.

For the third consecutive year, large swaths of the central and southern plains experienced below-average lightning, which became apparent when water levels in the Mississippi River hit their lowest levels in at least a decade.

And as recently as 2001, when a national lightning safety campaign began, the U.S. still averaged 55 lightning deaths a year. Now the average is down to 21, says John Jensenius, a meteorologist with the National Lightning Safety Council.

On average, lightning kills more people per year than tornadoes. Strikes can occur many miles from the base of a thunderstorm, even without rain -- and even with the sun shining!

More than 70% of the lightning fatalities occur in June, July, or August. These months not only have the greatest amount of lightning activity in the U.S., but they are also the months when people spend more time outside enjoying a variety of recreational and leisure activities.

What state in the U.S. gets the most lightning? ›

While Texas had more total lightning strikes in 2023, Florida consistently leads the nation in lightning strike density, measured in strikes per square kilometer.

Other associated dangers of thunderstorms include tornadoes [2], strong winds, hail and flash flooding [3]. Flash flooding is responsible for more fatalities – more than 140 annually – than any other thunderstorm-associated hazard.

Avoid plumbing: Metal plumbing and the water inside are both very good conductors of electricity. Therefore, do not wash your hands or dishes, take a shower or bath, do laundry, etc. during a thunderstorm.

In the end, Black Lightning is able to escape by harnessing his powers in a way he's never been able to before. Tobias, meanwhile, ends up dead, after he's thrown out his office window, impaled and electrocuted by Black Lightning.

We see lightning flicker when the process rapidly repeats itself several times along the same path. The actual diameter of the lightning channel current is one to two inches, surrounded by a region of charged particles.

Immediately move to safe shelter: a substantial building with electricity or plumbing or an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle with windows up. Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder. Stay off corded phones, computers and other electrical equipment.

This heat causes surrounding air to rapidly expand and vibrate, which creates the pealing thunder we hear a short time after seeing a lightning flash. Lightning 101Lightning strikes during thunderstorms kill more Americans each year than either tornadoes or hurricanes.

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. Around the world, approximately 2,000 people are struck by lightning every year.

U.S. Lightning Deaths in 2018: 21.

Lightning strike density by state in 2023

While Texas had more total lightning strikes in 2023, Florida consistently leads the nation in lightning strike density, measured in strikes per square kilometer.