Vaisala Xweather Annual Lightning Report 2025: U.S. lightning hits eight-year high
Total lightning density US County 2025
Lightning density: Global 2025
Ryan Said
Ryan Said
Vaisala Xweather
Press release
January 5, 2026
Vaisala Xweather Annual Lightning Report 2025: U.S. lightning hits eight-year high
252 million lightning strikes recorded in 2025 with the peak lightning day arriving weeks ahead of storm season.
Vaisala Xweather’s Annual Lightning Report reveals lightning activity in the U.S. surged to an eight-year high in 2025, with 252 million lightning strikes, a 20% increase from 2024. Capturing more than 99% of thunderstorms worldwide, the network detected over 2 billion global lighting events, and 7% decrease over 2024.
April 5th sets early lightning season record
2025’s most active lightning day occurred on April 5th, weeks ahead of the typical May–September season. In the contiguous U.S., 157 severe storms, including 21 tornados in the Southeast, produced over 3 million lightning events on April 5th, surpassing the annual totals of the 14 least lightning-prone states combined.
“While there is no single weather causation for this lightning spike, the event reaffirms a need for increased measures to counteract the adverse effects of lightning,” says Ryan Said, Senior Scientist at Vaisala Xweather. “Improved lightning detection has helped decrease lightning-related deaths by almost two-thirds in the U.S.”
New U.S. lightning capital emerges
Shady Grove, Oklahoma became 2025’s lightning capital with 3,005 lightning events per square mile. This marks the first time in four years that a lightning capital was named outside Texas or Florida.
Texas topped the nation’s lightning count in 2025 with 47 million lightning events, thanks largely to the sheer size of the state. When the numbers are adjusted for area, however, Texas drops out of the top five most lightning-dense states. By lightning density, Florida takes the lead with 305 lightning events per square mile, followed by Oklahoma with 253 events, Louisiana with 241 events, Mississippi with 231 events, and Arkansas with 230 events per square mile.
New insights identify lightning pressures on stadiums and wind turbines
Lightning caused 11 confirmed delays across NFL and NCAA football games in 2025, including the NFL season opener, Eagles vs Cowboys in Philadelphia, PA. The most significant incident occurring on September 13th during an NCAA football game at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, IN, where 1,800 lightning events within 10 miles forced a full evacuation and 90-minute delay. Major concerts and MLB games faced similar disruptions.
“Many major U.S. stadiums are located in the most lightning-active regions, such as Florida, Texas, the Midwest, and the Southeast,” says Said. “Since lightning is the most frequent weather hazard delaying and cancelling stadium events, real-time detection buys valuable minutes for stadiums to decide when to stop the event and how to do it safely.”
The following open-air stadiums recorded the most lightning warning times in 2025, assuming a 10-mile radius and 30-minute hold time according to NFL Weather Delay Rules & Protocols:
- Hard Rock Stadium – Miami Gardens, FL, 324 hours
- Tiger Stadium – Baton Rouge, LA, 316 hours
- Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, FL, 309 hours
- Doak S. Campbell Stadium – Tallahassee, FL, 263 hours
- NRG Stadium – Houston, TX, 251 hours
Lightning also remains the leading cause of wind turbine blade damage, costing the industry over $100 million annually. Analysis of 68,000 turbines found nearly one third of U.S. wind turbines were struck by lightning in 2025. One Kansas wind farm recorded 3,235 strikes over 10 years, averaging 1.2 strikes per turbine annually.
Monitoring lightning and severe weather is crucial for keeping infrastructure operational. Vaisala Xweather’s real-time alerts keep communities safe and advanced lightning data helps customers identify the strikes most likely to cause damage to their organization’s assets. This accuracy allows for targeted inspections and repairs rather than costly, facility-wide shutdowns and most importantly builds safe and resilient responses to the nation’s most severe weather events.
About the data
Vaisala Xweather operates the world’s most accurate lightning detection networks, providing critical data for early warning systems, research, and weather-sensitive operations globally. The report counts both cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning, the latter being the most dangerous.
Vaisala Xweather’s clients include NASA, the U.S. Armed Forces, FedEx, Netflix, and American Airlines. Many regional lightning detection networks worldwide are built using Vaisala sensors.
To view the Vaisala Xweather Annual Lightning Report 2025, visit xweather.com/annual-lightning-report-2025. A media kit with images and data visualizations is available at materialhub.vaisala.com/portals/annual-lightning-report-media-kit.
Custom data sets, including state and county data, are available upon request.
For more information:
Ryan Said
Senior Scientist
ryan.said(at)vaisala.com
Megan Schaefer
Media & Public Relations Manager
Tel. +1 720 948 6162
megan.schaefer(at)vaisala.com
About Vaisala Xweather
Vaisala Xweather brings weather confidence to decision-makers in every weather-sensitive business. By combining local sensor data with advanced AI predictions, we deliver precise and actionable weather insights. Vaisala Xweather transforms weather challenges into opportunities to optimize safety and efficiency while improving resilience against severe weather and climate change.
www.xweather.com
About Vaisala
Vaisala is a global leader in measurement instruments and intelligence for climate action. We equip our customers with devices and data to improve resource efficiency, drive energy transition, and care for the safety and well-being of people and societies worldwide. With over 90 years of innovation and expertise, we employ a team of close to 2,500 experts committed to taking every measure for the planet. Vaisala series A shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.
www.vaisala.com
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