TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Four Corners, Florida, an area just a few miles to the south and west of Orlando, was found to have the highest lightning strike density of anywhere in the entire U.S. this year. Vaisala’s annual report deemed the town the lightning capital of the U.S.
The report found that Four Corners had a lightning density of 474 lightning strikes per square kilometer for 2022. The closest areas to Four Corners in terms of lightning density were Greensburg, Louisiana with 387 lightning strikes per square kilometer last year and Ariel, Mississippi with 376 lightning strikes per square kilometer last year.
The state of Florida ranks highest for lightning density per state as well, with an average of 109.84 lightning strikes per square kilometer last year. The state of Texas ranks highest for the total number of lightning strikes, with 27,696,688 strikes last year. Florida was just under that measuring the lightning this way, with 18,706,904 strikes.
Locally, Polk County has the highest lightning density, with 147.3 strikes per square kilometer last year. Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee, DeSoto, and Highlands counties all fall within the highest range also, with between 104-149 strikes per square kilometer. Pinellas County had the lowest lightning density, with 52.5 strikes per square kilometer last year.
The report also highlighted the unusually high levels of lightning within the eye of Hurricane Ian. The storm most likely had the highest number of strikes of any Atlantic system. Pacific systems far outpace Atlantic storms in the number of lightning strikes.
Lightning within the eyewall of a hurricane is a measure of the storm’s intensity. A threshold for a strong storm is called Enveloped Eyewall Lightning (EEL) and it occurs when the lightning has been throughout the eyewall for more than six hours.
