LIGHTNING IN JULY
July is the flashiest month, often tied with June and August as the most lightning-filled of the year. But not everybody sees the light: Data from ground sensors reveal that its distribution is less than democratic.
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Map courtesy of Vaisala; Designed by Don Foley
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FLASH FREE
The West Coast is mostly flash free. Lightning occurs when a warm updraft forces water particles to collide with ice particles in clouds, creating an electric field—but cool, stable Pacific air stifles that effect here.
thunderstruck
Last summer 19 golfers in Kremmling, Colorado, were injured by a single lightning strike. People are rarely hit directly; often the strike hits the ground and conducts through the feet.
amplified
Florida sees more lightning than anywhere else in the United States. Morning sea breezes from both coasts collide inland in the afternoon, forcing storms.
Repressed
In much of Texas, lightning takes the month off. In June and August the state is dotted with flashes, but each July a subtropical high keeps storms from forming here.
Overextended
The longest lightning flash ever measured ran horizontally 110 miles over Dallas and Fort Worth. At least two of its branches hit the ground.
Activated
Nationwide, two-thirds of all lightning strikes occur between noon and 6 p.m., when the day is warmest—and when people are most active. More than 50 Americans are killed by lightning each year.
