JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s Severe Weather Awareness Week in Florida and Georgia (Feb. 3-7, 2025).
Each day of the week focuses on a specific weather event. Monday’s focus is on lightning.
As we educate community members on the dangers of severe weather, one danger lies with lightning.
According to the National Weather Service and the Florida Division of Emergency Management, lightning occurs with every thunderstorm, and on average, Florida sees around 70-100 days a year with at least one thunderstorm in the state. It’s one of nature’s deadliest and most unpredictable weather phenomena. Meteorologists can forecast the general conditions that cause lightning but no one can predict exactly when or where lightning will strike.
Because of Florida’s vulnerability to thunderstorms and lightning, lightning is one of the most deadly weather hazards in the Sunshine State.
All thunderstorms contain lightning that can strike a person, tree, or object either on the ground or in the air. Lightning strikes the ground about 25 million times each year and continues to be among the top weather-related killers in the United States.
A direct strike occurs primarily when a person is in an open area, and when struck, the strike moves through the nervous system or the cardiovascular area of the body.
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When a direct strike hits, burns can also occur due to the heat of the lightning on the body. Survival depends on how strong the current becomes as it moves through the body.
A side flash is when the lightning strikes something taller than a person but in very close proximity. When the lightning strikes a taller object, some of the energy within the lightning discharges onto a person and strikes them as well.
A ground current is responsible for the majority of lightning deaths because the lightning strikes something such as a tree or a home but then travels on the ground, exposing people to being struck. The dark side of ground currents is that they spread wide distances, so according to the National Weather Service, farm animals are often exposed to ground currents and killed.
Conduction happens both inside and outside, and it’s when the lightning strike travels very long distances within metal or wires. Essentially this is why it’s unsafe to shower or mess with anything that you might plug in during a storm. Outlets and things that plug into outlets can be affected.
Finally, streamers occur when the main lightning bolt hits the ground, but surrounding “streamers” come down, and can strike a person and injure or kill them.
Lightning strikes can kill and injure people and animals. Typically when a person survives they can have brain damage or burns from lightning strikes.
Did you know? Contrary to popular belief, lightning can strike the same place twice and rubber shoes or tires don’t protect you from lightning strikes.
Whether skies are blue or gray, remember that if you hear thunder, you are in the risk zone for lightning and you can get struck.
Stay safe out there and when thunder roars, go indoors.
Click here for more lightning safety tips from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.